title: Determination of plutonium-239 + plutonium-240 and plutonium-241 in environmental samples using low-level liquid scintillation spectrometry.
abstract: A radiochemical method for the simultaneous determination of 239Pu + 240Pu and 241Pu in environmental samples has been developed. In the course of the analysis a 236Pu tracer was used for estimating the chemical yield of plutonium isotopes. After suitable pre-treatment of the sample, the plutonium nuclides in solution were coprecipitated with iron(III) hydroxide and calcium oxalate and isolated further from impurities and interfering radionuclides by means of anion-exchange chromatography. Plutonium isotopes in the eluate (NH4I-HCI) were converted into nitrate form and then extracted with 20 ml of 5% bis(2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphate extractive cocktail. The final organic solution was measured spectrometrically using an ultra-low-level liquid scintillation spectrometer, Quantulus (LKB, 1220 Wallac). The chemical yields of plutonium range from 25 to 50% for 100 I of sea-water and 30 to 60% for 40 g of dried soil sample. The counting efficiencies are nearly 100% for 239Pu + 240Pu and 48.8% for 241Pu, respectively. The detection limits were estimated to be 0.20 mBq for 239Pu + 240Pu and 2.2 mBq for 241Pu, respectively. The proposed procedure has been tested for the simultaneous determination of 239Pu + 240Pu and 241Pu in sea-water (Irish Sea, North Sea) and soils (Cumbrian coast, UK; Byelorussia, USSR).
authors.affiliation: Isotope and Electron Microscopy Laboratories, Agricultural University of Norway, Aas.
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Bjørnstad
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Salbu
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D011005:Plutonium / Q000032:analysis*; D012588:Scintillation Counting; D012623:Seawater; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D014586:USSR; D006113:United Kingdom; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D011005:Plutonium