Separation and Analytical Chemistry of the Actinides
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
The determination of low levels of actinides from water samples and aqueous waste streams involves a lengthy and complicated process which is characterized by low recoveries and poor precision. The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of a Photon Electron Rejecting Alpha Liquid Scintillation Spectrometer (PERALS{reg_sign}), in combination with extractive scintillators, for the detection of actinides. The results of the application of this method to aqueous samples containing uranium, thorium, plutonium, and americium, both individually and in mixtures showed promising results. Using a commercially available extractant, ALPHAEX{reg_sign}, recoveries of plutonium and americium were > 98.4% in individual samples and in mixtures with activities ranging from 6 pci to 500 pci. The separation of these two elements was accomplished by selective extraction after adjusting the acidity of the aqueous sample. The application of this technique to a raw waste sample showed reasonable recoveries when combined with classical anion exchange separation techniques. Efforts to develop an extractive scintillator using a recently synthesized tetradentate extractant were only moderately successful since solubility problems limit the extractant's efficiency in the scintillator. The application of a curve fitting program, PEAKFIT{reg_sign}, to spectra obtained using the PERALS{reg_sign} spectrometer provided useful isotropic information.
- Research Organization:
- Tennessee Technological University (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 763051
- Report Number(s):
- LA-SUB-99-26; LANL Subcontract No. 493BH0017-3C; LANL Subcontract No. 493BH0017-3C
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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