Abstract: A method for the determination of trace molybdenum and lead in N36 zirconium alloy by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry(ICP-AES) was set up. The effects of sample dissolution methods, the matrix interference, analysis spectral line, plasma view, etc., were discussed. The method of uniform experimental design was used to investigate the optimal conditions of plasma gas flow, auxiliary gas flow, nebulizer gas flow and RF power. The results showed that the zirconium matrix has a fairly great effect on the determination results. In the study, matrix matching was used to eliminate the interference. The precision and accuracy of the method were validated by using the N36 zirconium alloy sample with the instrument parameters optimized by the uniform experimental design. The relative standard deviation (RSD, n=11) was less than 5%, and the recovery was between 93% and 104%. This method is rapid, simple, accurate, and meets the analytical requirements for trace molybdenum and lead in N36 zirconium alloy for nuclear reactor.