Development of a new hyphenated method for ICP-MS

The aim of this project is to construct and validate a prototype that combines inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy (CRIS) method, developed by the University of Manchester at ISOLDE CERN. The key advantage of the CRIS technique for mass spectrometry, is its efficient removal of interference species, whether they are single ions, diatomic or polyatomic in nature. A suppression of interference species by more than 7 orders of magnitude has been demonstrated and when combined with ICP-MS will improve the limit of detection from the range of ng/g to sub pg/g universally across the periodic table. This innovation in mass spectrometry has the potential to significantly reduce the cost and time associated with the characterisation of nuclear waste. This project will focus on the challenging case of 90Sr, where the current analysis methods are slow (over 20 days lead time per sample) and expensive. As the process of decommissioning the retired UK nuclear fleet accelerates, the existing methods will not scale to meet the future demand. ICP-MS-CRIS has the potential to dramatically reduce the sample analysis time from days to minutes. This project will develop the technology by building a prototype and validating the methodology in collaboration with NPL and NNL. We will work in partnership with Dounreary Site Restoration Ltd and M2 Lasers to further develop the method and instrumentation required for a unit that can be eventually deployed in the field.