Determination of {sup 90}Sr, {sup 137}Cs, and alkali/alkaline earth elements in nuclear waste by ion chromatography and liquid scintillation counting
Ion chromatography (IC) is utilized in this study in a dual role: to rapidly isolate the major radioactive components ({sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs) of nuclear waste prior to measurement of their beta-particle activities, and to simultaneously separate and measure significant nonradioactive constituents (alkali metal and alkaline earth elements) of the matrix. Samples were separated on a standard, commercial IC system modified for radioactive operation. The nonradioactive elements were measured by conductivity in a {open_quotes}suppressed{close_quotes} eluent. During the analysis {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs were collected as radiochemically pure fractions in the effluent from the conductivity detector and subsequently measured by liquid scintillation counting (LSC). The separation and counting can be performed in about 30 min with a precision of 1-2%. In a column cleaning step {sup 90}Y and other actinides were collected directly from the separation column in 1 M HCl. The suppression module was found to spread the {sup 90}Sr-elution peak unless nonradioactive strontium carrier was added to bring the elemental concentration to {approx}60 mg/L. The injection volume of the IC sample loop was measured by injection of radioactive standard solutions of known specific activities to allow absolute determination of the radionuclide concentrations. Nearly pure alpha-particle spectra were obtained from actinides in some of the cleanup fractions, indicating the method can be extended to the alpha-particle-emitting transuranic activities.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 387452
- Journal Information:
- Radioactivity and Radiochemistry, Vol. 7, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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