Radiochemical and SIMS measurement of 36Cl in nuclear graphite: the issue of the measurement dispersion

International audienceThis paper presents a radioanalytical methodology and the main measurement results of ³⁶Cl in irradiated nuclear graphite samples. The radiochemical measurements show dispersion of these ³⁶Cl measurements. To further investigate the location and heterogeneous distribution of chlorine, non-irradiated and irradiated graphite samples were observed by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). It was possible to explain the measurement dispersion thanks to the complementarity of the analytical techniques used, i.e., radiochemical analysis on a macroscopic scale (cm³) and isotopic SIMS measurements on a microscopic scale (µm³)