ISSN 1017-2548(Print)
ISSN 2234-8530(Online)
Volume 44, Number 6
JKCSEZ 44(6)
December 20, 2000 

Cation exchange separation and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric(ICP-AES) determination of ruthenium in HCl solutions were studied to quantitatively determine ruthenium in spent nuclear fuels. Ruthenium-bearing samples were dissolved with the mixed acid solution(9 : 1 mole ratio, HCl-HNO₃) using an acid digestion bomb. Based on the absorption spectra and ion exchange behaviour of ruthenium in hydrochloric acid media, its possible chemical species were discussed. On a cation exchange column (0.7 × 8.0 cm) packed with AG 50W × 8(100~200 mesh) and equilibrated with 0.5 M HCl, ruthenium was eluated with 0.5 M HCl while uranium was retained on the column. The established separation method was applied to a simulated spent nuclear fuel and resulted in the recovery of 98.5% with a relative standard deviation of 0.7%.