Automated sample collection and processing for radionuclide effluent monitoring
- Westinghouse Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC (United States)
In the United States, all nuclear facilities must provide for environmental monitoring of effluent points for radionuclides that have the potential for release to the environment. For the US Department of Energy (DOE) this means thousands of surface water analyses are performed each year at a cost of millions of dollars per year. Analytical costs for radiochemical analyses are often high due to the lengthy chemical separations required prior to counting for the selected analyte. At the Savannah River Site, a DOE facility located in South Carolina, a new technique has been demonstrated whereby samples are collected and processed in the field, at the time of collection, for selected radionuclides. The technique makes use of ion selective solid-phase extraction (SPE) disks being placed in a portable automatic aqueous sampler. Water from a surface stream or effluent sampling point is collected via an ISCO, Inc., 3710 SPX portable sampler. Weekly or biweekly (depending on the sampling requirements), the SPE disks are collected and returned to the laboratory for activity determination. The analytes that are currently being monitored by the new method are {sup 99}Tc, {sup 80}Sr, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 58}Co, and {sup 60}Co. The RAD SPE disks have been shown to be effective for the extraction of technetium, strontium, and cesium and cobalt from aqueous systems. The {sup 99}Tc and {sup 90}Sr activities are determined by direct counting of the SPE disk by gas flow beta proportional techniques; the {sup 137}Cs and radiocobalt activities are determined by direct counting of the SPE disk by gamma spectrometry. Because of the specificity of the SPE disks, there is no additional chemical separation required prior to counting the SPE disks for the selected activity determination.
- OSTI ID:
- 298262
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-981106-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 99:001894
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 79; Conference: American Nuclear Society winter meeting, Washington, DC (United States), 15-19 Nov 1998; Other Information: PBD: 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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