Original Article

Econ. Environ. Geol. 2017; 50(5): 341-352

Published online October 31, 2017

https://doi.org/10.9719/EEG.2017.50.5.341

© THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY

Rapid Detection of Radioactive Strontium in Water Samples Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

Jin-young Park1,2, Hyun-a Kim1, Kihong Park1 and Kyoung-woong Kim1*

1School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea
2Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd (KHNP), Gyeongju 38120, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to : kwkim@gist.ac.kr

Received: October 12, 2017; Revised: October 28, 2017; Accepted: October 30, 2017

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Along with Cs-137 (half-life: 30.17 years), Sr-90 (half-life: 28.8 years) is one of the most important environmental monitoring radioactive elements. Rapid and easy monitoring method for Sr-90 using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been studied. Strontium belongs to a bivalent alkaline earth metal such as calcium and has similar electron arrangement and size. Due to these similar chemical properties, it can easily enter into the human body through the food chain via water, soil, and crops when leaked into the environment. In addition, it is immersed into the bone at the case of human influx and causes the toxicity for a long time (biological half-life: about 50 years). It is a very reductive and related with the specific reaction that makes wet analysis difficult. In particular, radioactive strontium should be monitored by nuclear power plants but it is very difficult to be analysed from high-cost problems as well as low accuracy of analysis due to complicated analysis procedures, expensive analysis equipment, and a pretreatment process of using massive chemicals. Therefore, we introduce the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis method that analyzes the elements in the sample using the inherent spectrum by generating plasma on the sample using pulse energy, and it can be analyzed in a few seconds without preprocessing. A variety of analytical plates for samples were developed to improve the analytical sensitivity by optimizing the laser, wavelength, and time resolution. This can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring of radioactive wastewater discharged from a nuclear power plant, and furthermore, it can be applied as an emergency monitoring means such as possible future accidents at a nuclear power plants.

Keywords Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, strontium, nuclear power plant, monitoring method, radioactive pollution

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)를 이용한 방사성 스트론튬 오염물질에 대한 신속한 모니터링 기술

박진영1,2 ·김현아1 ·박기홍1 ·김경웅1*

1광주과학기술원 지구 ·환경공학부, 2한국수력원자력 주식회사

요 약

Article

Original Article

Econ. Environ. Geol. 2017; 50(5): 341-352

Published online October 31, 2017 https://doi.org/10.9719/EEG.2017.50.5.341

Copyright © THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY.

Rapid Detection of Radioactive Strontium in Water Samples Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

Jin-young Park1,2, Hyun-a Kim1, Kihong Park1 and Kyoung-woong Kim1*

1School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea
2Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd (KHNP), Gyeongju 38120, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to:kwkim@gist.ac.kr

Received: October 12, 2017; Revised: October 28, 2017; Accepted: October 30, 2017

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Along with Cs-137 (half-life: 30.17 years), Sr-90 (half-life: 28.8 years) is one of the most important environmental monitoring radioactive elements. Rapid and easy monitoring method for Sr-90 using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been studied. Strontium belongs to a bivalent alkaline earth metal such as calcium and has similar electron arrangement and size. Due to these similar chemical properties, it can easily enter into the human body through the food chain via water, soil, and crops when leaked into the environment. In addition, it is immersed into the bone at the case of human influx and causes the toxicity for a long time (biological half-life: about 50 years). It is a very reductive and related with the specific reaction that makes wet analysis difficult. In particular, radioactive strontium should be monitored by nuclear power plants but it is very difficult to be analysed from high-cost problems as well as low accuracy of analysis due to complicated analysis procedures, expensive analysis equipment, and a pretreatment process of using massive chemicals. Therefore, we introduce the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis method that analyzes the elements in the sample using the inherent spectrum by generating plasma on the sample using pulse energy, and it can be analyzed in a few seconds without preprocessing. A variety of analytical plates for samples were developed to improve the analytical sensitivity by optimizing the laser, wavelength, and time resolution. This can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring of radioactive wastewater discharged from a nuclear power plant, and furthermore, it can be applied as an emergency monitoring means such as possible future accidents at a nuclear power plants.

Keywords Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, strontium, nuclear power plant, monitoring method, radioactive pollution

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)를 이용한 방사성 스트론튬 오염물질에 대한 신속한 모니터링 기술

박진영1,2 ·김현아1 ·박기홍1 ·김경웅1*

1광주과학기술원 지구 ·환경공학부, 2한국수력원자력 주식회사

Received: October 12, 2017; Revised: October 28, 2017; Accepted: October 30, 2017

요 약

    KSEEG
    Oct 29, 2024 Vol.57 No.5, pp. 473~664

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