An improved sensitive assay for polonium-210 by use of a background-rejecting extractive liquid-scintillation method.

A procedure is described for the determination of polonium-210 in various types of materials, including ores, mill tailings, and environmental samples, by a combined solvent-extraction liquid-scintillation spectrometry method. Concentration of polonium-210 and separation from interfering elements (such as iron) are accomplished by extraction from a 7M phosphoric acid-0.01M hydrochloric acid solution with 0.20M trioctylphosphine oxide solution (together with a scintillator) in toluene. The polonium-210 is determined by counting the 5.3-MeV alpha-radiation with a photon/ electron-rejecting alpha liquid-scintillation spectrometer. Extraction coefficients of over 1000 for polonium ensure quantitative recovery, and no other alpha-emitters in the decay chains of uranium-238, uranium-235 and thorium-232 are extracted. The results for several samples show the relative standard deviation to be approximately 1.2%. A lower limit of detection of 0.0038 pCi is proposed, based on a counting time of 1000 min and an easily obtainable background of 0.01 cpm for the alpha peak.

Plutonium and uranium determination in environmental samples: combined solvent extraction-liquid scintillation method.

A method for the determination of uranium and plutonium by a combined high-resolution liquid scintillation-solvent extraction method is presented. Assuming a sample count equal to background count to be the detection limit, the lower detection limit for these and other alpha-emitting nuclides is 1.0 dpm with a Pyrex sample tube, 0.3 dpm with a quartz sample tube using present detector shielding or 0.02 d.p.m. with pulse-shape discrimination. Alpha-counting efficiency is 100%. With the counting data presented as an alpha-energy spectrum, an energy resolution of 0.2-0.3 MeV peak half-width and an energy identification to +/-0.1 MeV are possible. Thus, within these limits, identification and quantitative determination of a specific alpha-emitter, independent of chemical separation, are possible. The separation procedure allows greater than 98% recovery of uranium and plutonium from solution containing large amounts of iron and other interfering substances. In most cases uranium, even when present in 10(8)-fold molar ratio, may be quantitatively separated from plutonium without loss of the plutonium. Potential applications of this general analytical concept to other alpha-counting problems are noted. Special problems associated with the determination of plutonium in soil and water samples are discussed. Results of tests to determine the pulse-height and energy-resolution characteristics of several scintillators are presented. Construction of the high-resolution liquid scintillation detector is described.