Rapid determination of actinides in asphalt samples

Journal Article · Sun Jan 12 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-013-2885-0· OSTI ID:1169578

Maxwell, Sherrod L. ^[1]; Culligan, Brian K. ^[1]; Hutchison, Jay B. ^[1]

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1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

A new rapid method for the determination of actinides in asphalt samples has been developed that can be used in emergency response situations or for routine analysis If a radiological dispersive device (RDD), Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) or a nuclear accident such as the accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March, 2011 occurs, there will be an urgent need for rapid analyses of many different environmental matrices, including asphalt materials, to support dose mitigation and environmental clean up. The new method for the determination of actinides in asphalt utilizes a rapid furnace step to destroy bitumen and organics present in the asphalt and sodium hydroxide fusion to digest the remaining sample. Sample preconcentration steps are used to collect the actinides and a new stacked TRU Resin + DGA Resin column method is employed to separate the actinide isotopes in the asphalt samples. The TRU Resin plus DGA Resin separation approach, which allows sequential separation of plutonium, uranium, americium and curium isotopes in asphalt samples, can be applied to soil samples as well.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 1169578
• Report Number(s): SRNL-STI-2013-00720
• Journal Information: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 299, Issue 3; ISSN 0236-5731
• Publisher: Springer
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY