LAUSR

Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of actinide elements plays a vital role in the characterization of nuclear fuel as it is primarily these elements that comprise the fuel. Although EPMA analysis of nuclear fuel has been extant since the early 1970’s it was, and remains, extremely challenging for several reasons. Firstly, when actinides are present in irradiated nuclear fuel, they are accompanied by large β and γ radiation fields, which can cause several orders of magnitude increase in background noise as well as contribute to premature detector failure. Secondly, M-line actinide X-ray lines are used for analysis. These peaks suffer from abundant peak overlaps and a paucity of relevant physical parameters, particularly accurate mass absorption coefficients. Finally, analytical standards such as Np and Pu cannot be purchased. They must be made internally and do not have the robust analytical data and documentation that accompanies many geological standards (e.g. Smithsonian mineral standards).