Critical comparison of INAA and ICP-MS applied in the characterization of purity of TRISO fuel and substrates to its production

The application of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), both in solution and laser ablation (LA) mode, and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) in the nuclear material analysis are presented in this paper. The possibility of each technique for the chemical characterization of substances used during TRISO fuel production and its advantages and limitations are discussed based on the obtained results of the analysis of real materials used in TRISO fuel production in the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology. The paper also reports the application of INAA and LA-ICP-MS to the verifi cation of the purity of the protective layers of pyrolytic carbon (PyC) and silicon carbide.