Development the analysis method of ultrafine particles using ICP-Time of Flight-MS (ICP-TOF-MS) for decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Abstract

Radioactive materials are emitted from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1) in various chemical forms, such as gas, fine particles (solid), and ions (dissolved form). Among these, ultrafine particles (particles with a diameter of less than 1 µm) behave differently from ions and solids, and investigating the dynamics of ultrafine particles can provide new insights into the diffusion mechanism of radioactive materials. In this study, we attempted to develop an analytical method to measure the individual elemental composition of ultrafine particles at high-speed using ICP-MS combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ICP-TOF-MS).The ICP-TOF-MS system used in this study (icp TOF R manufactured by TOFWERK) is capable of detecting Fe in stainless steel alloys and Zr in fuel cladding tubes, which are reactor materials, with high sensitivity, but there is a significant decrease in transmission efficiency for light elements such as B, which is a major component of control rods. In this presentation, we present the results of optimizing the analysis conditions (mainly ion lens operation conditions) to improve the transmission efficiency of B and individual elemental analysis of simulated debris particles composed mainly of B, Fe, and Zr.