Determination of $sup 238$Pu and $sup 242$Cm in aqueous solid extracts

Technical Report · Wed Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1975

OSTI ID:4031042

Wood, R A; Nishita, H; Hamilton, M; Wakakuwa, S

A method is described for the quantitative determination of $sup 238$Pu and $sup 242$Cm contained in aqueous soil extracts. The organic matter is destroyed using standard wet ashing techniques. The 87.8-h $sup 238$Pu and 163-d $sup 242$Cm are isolated by co-extraction with iron and purified using cation exchange techniques. The final eluate is evaporated to dryness on stainless steel planchets and counted using an alpha spectrometer system in conjunction with a silicon surface barrier detector. Greater than 98 percent recovery of $sup 238$Pu and $sup 242$Cm was obtained from ammonium acetate and sodium hydroxide--nitric acid extracts of traced soil. The primary advantages of this method are: (1) secondary tracers are not needed for the determination of chemical yields, and (2) expensive and time-consuming electrodeposition techniques are not required for final sample mounting. (auth)

• Research Organization: California Univ., Los Angeles (USA). Lab. of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology
• NSA Number: NSA-33-025386
• OSTI ID: 4031042
• Report Number(s): UCLA--12-1047
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*CURIUM 242-- RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
*PLUTONIUM 238-- RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
*SOILS-- RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
400103* --Chemistry--Analytical & Separations Chemistry-- Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures
ACETATES
ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
CATIONS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
ION EXCHANGE
N40130* --Chemistry--Analytical & Separations Chemistry-- Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures
NITRIC ACID
PYROLYSIS
SODIUM HYDROXIDES