OPTIMASI PARAMETER METODE PEMISAHAN RADIONUKLIDA 95Zr DALAM LARUTAN PELAT ELEMEN BAKAR U3Si2/Al TERIRADIASI

Abstract

Radionuclide of ⁹⁵Zr is one of the γ-radiation emitter radionuclides which has a short half-life so that it can be used as an indicator of burn up. In the irradiated U₃Si₂/Al fuel element plate there are several radionuclides of fission products emitting α, β and γ and when measuring radiation using γ-spectrometry, these radionuclides may interfere with each other resulting in inaccurate measurement results. Therefore, it is necessary to separate ⁹⁵Zr for better accuracy in the measurement of γ-radiation with a γ-spectrometer. The purpose of this study was to obtain the optimum parameters for the separation of ⁹⁵Zr in U₃Si₂/Al fuel element plate solution by ion exchange column method using Dowex 1x-8Cl^- resin of 100-200 mesh in diameter. The optimum parameters obtained were then used for the separation of ⁹⁵Zr in a solution of irradiated U₃Si₂/Al fuel element. It was found that the optimum parameter of acidity of H₂SO₄ in the feed was a concentration of 0.5 M, and the acidity of H₂SO₄ for elution was 1.0 M with a recovery of 98.20%. The weight of the resin to bind ⁹⁵Zr radionuclide was 2.0 g with a recovery of 78.76%. The required feed volume was 50 µL with a recovery of 96.90% and the optimized flow rate was 0.1 mL/minute with a recovery of 96.72%. The optimum values were used for the separation of the U₃Si₂/Al fuel element plate solution irradiated with the code of Bottom (B), Middle (M) and Top (T). The measurement results show that the mean recovery of separation was ⁹⁵Zr for code B-1 = 75.078%; B-2= 81.401%; M1=76,850%; M-2=83.806%; T-1=84.433%; and T-2 = 81.728% with the acceptability of the CV repeatability value smaller than the CV Horwitz value.