Separation of americium from tervalent lanthanides for high-resolution alpha spectrometry

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6223810

Sill, C W

A simple and efficient method for the separation of americium from many elements including the tervalent lathanides was developed by Moore (1963, Anal. Chem. 35:715) based on oxidation of the americium to its hexavalent state with ammonium peroxydisulfate in a weak nitric acid solution in the presence of silver ion as a catalyst. The non-oxidizable lanthanides and actinides were then precipitated with ammonium fluoride and filtered off, leaving the hexavalent americium in solution as a soluble fluoride complex. The present procedure is similar to that of Moore but with significant differences that permit both high chemical yield and excellent resolution to be obtained using the entire americium fraction from 10 grams of soil to obtain maximum sensitivity and precision by high-resolution alpha spectrometry. The procedure was developed specifically for application to the 4 M nitric acid strip of a bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid extract from which most of the cerium from a 10-gram sample had been removed by extraction after oxidation with sodium bromate.

• Research Organization: EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-76ID01570
• OSTI ID: 6223810
• Report Number(s): EGG-M-16384; CONF-8410197-1; ON: DE85003553
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400103* -- Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures-- (-1987)
400105 -- Separation Procedures
ACTINIDES
ALPHA SPECTROSCOPY
AMERICIUM
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
ELEMENTS
METALS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RARE EARTHS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOILS
SPECTROSCOPY
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS