Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopic determination of trace rare earth elements in highly refractory gadolinium zirconate (GdZrO).

Gadolinium zirconate (GdZrO) belongs to the category of burnable absorber (BA) material in nuclear reactors. The high neutron-absorption cross sections of Gd isotopes (Gd and Gd) implement negative reactivity in the reactor core to control the excess reactivity of the fuel at the beginning of the fission cycle. The presence of other rare earth elements, which can come from the starting material and/or may be taken up during the synthesis steps, will affect the negative reactivity calculation.