Ra-226 radioassay of soil and tailings

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983 · Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5875938

Sabau, C S; Rayno, D R; Kretz, N D; Zelle, P W

Studies of inactive uranium tailings piles have shown that tailings sands containing Ra-226 and other radionuclides may be dispersed by wind and water erosion, causing contamination of adjacent areas. To conduct an effective cleanup operation, it is necessary that boundaries of contamination be well defined. To accomplish this, data from surface gamma-ray surveys made under the Measurement Monitoring Program of the US DOE's Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (UMTRAP) are first used to delineate a general outline of the contaminated area. Then, data from portable scintillometer surveys and from sealed-can gamma-ray analyses of soil samples are used to more precisely define the perimeter of Ra-226 contamination. These field measurements are supported by radiochemical analyses of randomly selected samples. Because of its adaptability to the widely varying chemical composition of the material in these samples, the complexing agent EDTA is used in a complexometric leaching procedure to analyze Ra-226. By this procedure, natural concentrations of Ra-226 in soil (approx. 1 pCi/g) can be measured routinely. The potential limit of detection is in the 0.1 to 0.5 pCi/g range. Details of the method, which includes leaching of radium followed by radon de-emanation, are described. Comparative data for various soil and tailings samples are presented.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL
• OSTI ID: 5875938
• Report Number(s): CONF-821107-Pt.1
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 15
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMINO ACIDS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHELATING AGENTS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DATA
DISSOLUTION
EDTA
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
ISOTOPES
LEACHING
MILL TAILINGS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIOASSAY
RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM 226
RADIUM ISOTOPES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOILS
SOLID WASTES
SPECTROSCOPY
TAILINGS
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES