The Determination of Be in an Enriched Uranium Matrix YGG Darrin K. Mann, D.H. “Bo” Bowman, Thomas J. Oatts, and Vicki F. Belt Analytical Chemistry Organization Y-12 National Security Complex P.O. Box 2009, MS 8189 Oak Ridge, TN

Outline Short review of Be, or why we use it Problems associated with handling of Be –Physical –Health Be program at Y-12 national Security Complex Current Method –Problems with current method –New method Data from new method Conclusions/Future Work

Be: Why we use it Discovered in 1798 –Not widely used in Industry until 1940s and 50s Lighter then Aluminum, Stiffer then Steel –2 nd lightest metal –6 times stiffer then steel High heat absorption –One pound absorbs as much heat as 6 pounds of copper Be Metals, Alloys, Salts and Oxides are used for a wide variety of Industries –Structures in high-speed aircraft (space shuttle) –Satellite mirrors and space telescopes –Golf clubs and bicycle frames –Neutron moderators or reflectors in nuclear reactors –Nuclear Weapons components

Problems Associated with Be Physical Problems –Expensive –Brittleness Increases toxicity Health Hazard –Most Significant disadvantage for industrial use –Causes Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD) No known cure, can only be treated –Produces scaring of lung tissue Chronic, may take years to develop –Average latency period is years 2-5 % of population Be sensitive Over 100 current and former DOE employees have CBD

Be program at Y-12 National Security Complex Controlled by US Dept. of Energy’s Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program –10 CFR Part 850 – Promulgated in 1999 to protect DOE workers from CBD –Requires Be surface and air monitoring to determine health risk –Rule greatly increased the need for Be analysis in the DOE complex –Current analytical methods include ICPOES and GFAA

Overview of Y-12 Be Program Almost 40K samples analyzed in 03. Averaging 50% more samples in 04 Some months topping 5000 SAMPLES Average turnaround time is 24 hours.

Typical Workloads Associated with Be Program

Breakdown of Be Smears at Y-12

Current Method for Be Analysis Microwave Digest samples –H 2 SO 4 and H 2 O 2 –Diluted to volume with HNO 3 –Final solution is 10% HNO 3 /6% H 2 SO 4 Samples counted using ICPOES –Use Scandium as Internal Standard –Look at and lines Interfering lines corrected using Inter Element Correction or IEC –Corrects for most spectral interferences, such as Uranium

The Problem? The IEC works great correcting for uranium, to a point: –High Concentrations of Natural Uranium Uranium very spectral rich Require Dilution for Be Quantitation –Enriched Uranium causes spectral shift Dependent on Enrichment Possible Solutions –Dilution May lose Be signal Increase in MDL –Determine Enrichment for all Samples Expensive Time consuming –Remove/Concentrate Be –Remove Uranium

Method using Eichrom UTEVA Elegantly simplistic Prepare column with 10% HNO 3 /6% H 2 SO 4 Load sample onto column (usually 10 mL) Collect sample –No rinsing, we do not want to dilute solution Internal Scandium Standard adjusts for any loss Sample re-run within the hour

Spiked Sample Recovery mg/L Be and 500 mg/L U Average RSD 7.4%

Decontamination of U mg/L Be and 500 mg/L U >99% Uranium Removal

So Where is the “REAL” Data Real Samples yet to be processed –Sample Backlog –Procedure Approval Sample will be split Analysis to be done by ICP-MS and Eichrom Extraction Method Expect data to statistically be the same

Conclusion/Future Work UTEVA seems to be fast and reliable method to remove the enriched uranium interference from samples when analyzing for Be Can also be used to remove high levels of natural uranium from samples Need to quicken the process –Vacuum Box –Prepacked column –Reduce number of sample Customer knowledge??