A rapid separation method for the determination of Tc-99 in environmental waters by ICP-MS

Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999 · Radioactivity and Radiochemistry

OSTI ID:20000122

Uchida, Shigeo; Tagami, Keiko

Technetium-99 is an artificial radionuclide with a long half-life of 2.1 x 10{sup 5} y. The main sources of environmental {sup 99}Tc are nuclear weapons tests and nuclear industries such as nuclear fuel processing plants and waste disposal facilities. Due to its high mobility in the terrestrial environment, it is one of the most important radionuclides for does assessment. In this study, the authors propose a separation procedure for Tc in environmental waters using a resin, after which samples can be measured by ICP-MS. Tracer experiments were carried out to determine a suitable concentration of HNO{sub 3} for separation of Tc from Ru in environmental waters on TECA{center{underscore}dot}Spec{sup {trademark}} resin. This was necessary, because, with a common procedure, a small amount of Ru was found in the eluate of 12 M HNO{sub 3} solution. Ruthenium has an isotopic abundance of 12.7% at mass 99 which interferes with Tc counting by ICP-MS. Most of the Ru sorbed on the resin was desorbed by 40 mL of 2 M HNO{sub 3}. Sorbed Tc was readily recovered using 4 mL of 8 M HNO{sub 3}. No Ru was found in the eluate of 9 M HNO{sub 3} solution. The authors also checked the concentrations of major elements, such as Mg, Na and Ca, in the eluates passing through the resin column by ICP=AES. It was clear that most of the major elements in the environmental waters, adjusted to 0.1 M HNO{sub 3}, passed through the resin column and, subsequently, concentration of each coexisting element in the strip solution by 8 M HNO{sub 3} was lower than 20 ppm. The procedure was applied to 2 L each for both river water and seawater. The recoveries of Tc for both waters in 4 mL of the strip solution by 8 M HNO{sub 3} were more than 98% and the detection limit of {sup 99}Tc by this procedure with ICP-MS measurement was 0.3 mB1 L{sup {minus}1}.

• Research Organization: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba (JP)
• OSTI ID: 20000122
• Journal Information: Radioactivity and Radiochemistry, Journal Name: Radioactivity and Radiochemistry Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 10; ISSN 1045-845X; ISSN RARAE6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GROUND WATER
ICP MASS SPECTROSCOPY
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RESINS
RUTHENIUM
TECHNETIUM 99