Suitability and Applications of Total-Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry for Analytical Characterization of Nuclear Materials

Abstract

The suitability and applications of Total reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF) for characterization of nuclear materials are numerous. TXRF has been successfully applied for trace, minor and major determinations of constituents in nuclear materials such as fuel, clad, control rod, coolant, etc. The two major advantages of TXRF i.e. requirement of very small sample for analysis and non-requirement of matrix matched standards, make this technique further more attractive and suitable for nuclear industry. The applications of TXRF for trace analysis in nuclear materials such as fuel, clad, coolant and control rods are described in detail along with its applications for determination of major and speciation studies in TXRF mode.

Keywords:

• Chemical quality control
• elemental analysis
• elemental speciation
• nuclear materials
• total reflection X-ray fluorescence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr. N.L. Mishra, Ex-Fuel Chemistry Division and Dr. R. V. Pai, Head, Fuel Development Chemistry Section, Fuel Chemistry Division for their encouragement, interest and support during this work.