Determination of ¹⁰B/¹¹B Isotopic Ratio and Concentration of Boron in Stainless Steel by ICP MS
Abstract
The large thermal neutron absorption cross-section of the 10B enables the use of boron as a neutron absorber for reactivity control in nuclear reactors. Precise information on both the isotopic composition and boron concentration in absorbing materials is crucial, as the degree of reactivity control depends directly on the 10B content. In the work, a series of experiments were conducted to determine the boron concentration and isotopic ratio in samples of corrosion-resistant chromium-nickel stainless steel, which is used in the control and protection system rods of nuclear reactors. The study was performed using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer on 5 stainless steel samples with a certified boron mass fraction. The external standard method was used to determine the 10B/11B isotopic ratio, using the ICP-MS-68A Standard (with a natural 10B:11B ratio of 19.9:80.1) as a reference. To determine the boron concentration in steel, the isotope dilution method (internal standard method) was used. A known amount of a spike with a specific isotopic ratio was added to samples of unknown boron content. Elemental amorphous boron powder with a 10B:11B isotopic ratio of 95.0:5.0 was used as the spike. The proposed methods allow determining the isotope ratio and boron concentration in a sample by measuring only the 10B and 11B isotopes. The results obtained were compared with the manufacturer's certified data. The values coincide within the measurement uncertainty, confirming the reliability of the proposed methods for steel analysis.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Inna Afanasieva, Serhii Afanasiev, Dmytro Kutnii, Dmytro Burdeinyi, Stanislav Vanzha, Nataliia Rud', Oleksandr Medvedev
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