Cation-Exchange Isolation of Americium in the Analysis of Natural Waters by Alpha Spectrometry

Abstract

The chromatographic method for isolating americium on a single column with KU-2-8 cation exchange resin from nitric acid solutions is proposed for determination of 241Am in natural waters. The advantages of this simple and rapid procedure are the availability and low cost of equipment, reagents and materials and a small amount of waste. Electrolytic deposition of americium is carried out on stainless steel disks from a solution of ammonium chloride and EDTA-Na2 for 30 minutes. Losses are controlled by the internal standard 243Am. The radiochemical recovery of americium was 60–84% for the model samples, including water with high salinity.