Rapid determination of nitrogen-13 and fluorine-18 in reactor cooling water by an ion-exchange method

Abstract

Nitrogen-13 and fluorine-18 are formed mainly by the ¹⁶O (p,α)¹³N and the ¹⁸O (p,n)¹⁸F reactions, respectively, in reactor cooling water. In the present work nitrogen-13 and fluorine-18 have been determined in reactor cooling water from Kyoto University reactor by an ion-exchange method. The measured radioactivities of nitrogen-13 and fluorine-18 were 4·5 nCi ml^–1 and 0·3 nCi ml^–1, respectively, at 5 MW of reactor operating power. The sensitivity of this method is about 1 pCi ml^–1 for fluorine-18 and 5 pCi ml^–1 for nitrogen-13. The precision of this method is about ±5 per cent.