Measurement of radionuclides using ion chromatography and on-line radiation detection

Abstract

A technique is presented for the relatively rapid measurement of actinide and beta-emitting radionuclides in waste streams and environmental samples. It uses ion chromatography for elemental selectivity and flow-through scintillation counting with dual parameter pulse-height and pulse-shape analysis for alpha/beta detection and discrimination. The system was tested for one surrogate sample (spiked groundwater from the southeastern U.S.) and two actual samples from the Savannah River Site (supernatant from a highactivity drain tank and sludge from a high level waste tank). For the spiked groundwater, recoveries were quantitative for all of the analytes (americium, curium, plutonium, and strontium) except uranium. For the actual samples, which contained americium, curium, plutonium, strontium, and cesium, the results using the system were within 20% of those obtained independently. Based on these tests, it is concluded that the system is capable of analyzing alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides in samples that are representative of those encountered at contaminated former weapons sites.