Development of a Non-contact Chemical Analysis Method for Process Management in Reprocessing Plants

In the process of chemical analysis in reprocessing plants, the simplification of complicated operations for the manipulator is required.To make the process of chemical analysis easier, a non-contact method for chemical analysis in reprocessing plants was developed utilizing Raman spectroscopy.Raman spectroscopy is a type of non-contact and non-destructive chemical analysis method that can be applied to quantification analysis.In this study, uranyl nitrate in nitric acid solution and tributyl phosphate (TBP) in dodecane solvent sealed in a plastic container were examined as target samples.In the measurement, an equipment to align the optical axis was developed to improve simplicity of the method.Statistical analysis called partial least squares (PLS) regression was applied to quantitative analysis to improve the analysis accuracy.By utilizing PLS, 1 g L -1 uranyl nitrate and 1 vol% TBP could be detected.It was confirmed that this method can be applied to both inorganic and organic materials.By using this method, it is possible to analyze highdose samples in containers without opening those containers.This method allows us to simplify the analysis process for operators significantly and reduce the amount of radioactive waste liquid.