Remote Analyses by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

A remotely operated atomic absorption system was developed for the routine determination of metallic constituents at macro and trace levels in highly irradiated nuclear fuel. A special optical system in the hot-cell directs a light signal to a monochromator and associated readout equipment located outside the cell. The same monochromator and readout equipment serves an atomic absorption instrument located outside the cell for analysis of non irradiated material. The sensitivity and precisian of the two systems is essentially the same. The time required for wet chemical analyses of irradiated fuel was reduced by a factor of 8 to 10 with the remote atomic absorption system.