Rapid method for the determination of 226Ra in hydraulic fracturing wastewater samples

Journal Article · Thu Mar 24 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-4745-1· OSTI ID:1254434

Maxwell, Sherrod L. ^[1]; Culligan, Brian K. ^[1]; Warren, Richard A. ^[1]; McAlister, Daniel R. ^[2]

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1. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, Aiken, SC (United States)
2. PG Research Foundation, Inc., Lisle, IL (United States)

A new method that rapidly preconcentrates and measures ²²⁶Ra from hydraulic fracturing wastewater samples was developed in the Savannah River Environmental Laboratory. The method improves the quality of ²²⁶Ra measurements using gamma spectrometry by providing up to 100x preconcentration of ²²⁶Ra from this difficult sample matrix, which contains very high levels of calcium, barium, strontium, magnesium and sodium. The high chemical yield, typically 80-90%, facilitates a low detection limit, important for lower level samples, and indicates method ruggedness. Ba-133 tracer is used to determine chemical yield and correct for geometry-related counting issues. The ²²⁶Ra sample preparation takes < 2 hours.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 1254434
• Report Number(s): SRNS-STI-2016-00186; PII: 4745
• Journal Information: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 2016; ISSN 0236-5731
• Publisher: Springer
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
rapid method
radium
Ra-226
hydraulic fracturing
wastewater
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