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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Inkjet droplets of radioactive material enable quick, precise testing at NIST
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a technique called cryogenic decay energy spectrometry capable of detecting single radioactive decay events from tiny material samples and simultaneously identifying the atoms involved. In time, the technology could replace characterization tasks that have taken months and could support rapid, accurate radiopharmaceutical development and used nuclear fuel recycling, according to an article published on July 8 by NIST.
Keshav Chander, Bharatkumar N. Patil, Jayshree V. Kamat, Nandakumar B. Khedekar, Remani B. Manolkar, Surendranath G. Marathe
Nuclear Technology | Volume 78 | Number 1 | July 1987 | Pages 69-74
Technical Paper | Chemical Processing | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A34010
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Direct dissolution of uranium carbide was found to be very effective when it was refluxed with an 18 M H2SO4‾15 M HNO3 (1:1) mixture. Clear solutions could be obtained within 1 h. Uranium-plutonium carbide, as well as PuO2 could also be dissolved in 1 to 2 h in the same way. Other nuclear materials, UO2 + C and UO2 + PuO2 + C, needed longer duration for complete dissolution. When the proportion of H2SO4 in the H2SO4‾HNO3 mixture was increased to 2:1, these materials also dissolved within 2 h. Quantitativeness of the dissolution was checked by the potentiometric determination of uranium and/or plutonium contents in these solutions. The results were in good agreement (±0.5%) when compared with the values obtained by the well-established dissolution method. During the fabrication of fuel (plutonium-rich mixed carbide) for the fast breeder test reactor, a large number of fuel samples were analyzed by using the above method of dissolution for the chemical quality control. Presuming the possibility of formation of small amounts of oxalic and mellitic (benzene hexacarboxylic) acids during the process of dissolution of carbides, the effect of the presence of these organic species on the potentiometric determination of uranium and plutonium was studied.