Successful on-line monitoring of the separation processes at a spent fuel reprocessing plant is needed for the quality control and adequate safeguarding. The instrumentation used to monitor these processes must be robust to ensure long-term non-attendant application and be able to withstand harsh radiation and chemical environments. Quantitative information on the generated dissolved spent fuel streams can be gained by the utilization of spectroscopic capabilities. This paper presents application of Raman and vis-NIR techniques for on-line real-time monitoring of solutions relevant to spent fuel reprocessing. The Raman probe is applied to monitor high concentration species, including metal oxide ions, such as uranyl, components of the organic solvent, inorganic oxo-anions, and water. Minor actinides and lanthanides are monitored remotely by vis-NIR spectroscopy. These techniques demonstrated robust performance in the repetitive batch measurements of each analyte in a wide concentration range using simulant and actual commercial dissolved spent fuel solutions.

On-line monitoring of spent fuel reprocessing streams

242nd National Meeting (2011)

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