Multi-isotopic determination of plutonium (239Pu, 240Pu, 241Pu and 242Pu) in marine sediments using sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A new method for the determination of plutonium and americium using high pressure microwave digestion and alpha-spectrometry or ICP-SMS

“…This means that elaborate chemical separation and purification steps are needed to measure 241 Am and Pu using alpha-spectrometry. In recent years, with the development of mass spectrometry techniques (ICP-MS), researchers have also been able to measure Pu radioisotopes by their masses [6][7][8] Most of the radiochemical protocols follow three main steps: sample digestion, chemical separation, and source preparation before the measurement. For the sample digestion, acid leaching and borate fusion are often used [9,10], but are time-consuming [4] and moreover, borate fusion cannot be conducted on large samples (e.g., [5 g).…”

Critical comparison of radiometric and mass spectrometric methods for the determination of radionuclides in environmental, biological and nuclear waste samples

“…The most used method for the separation and concentration of Cs in water samples is based on its specific absorption on ammonium phosphomolybdate (AMP) and copper ferrocyanide (CFC). However, before irradiation, Cs has to be separated from AMP and CFC to reduce the radioactivity of 32 P, 99 Mo, 59 Fe, 64 Cu. Cs concentrated in AMP can be released by dissolution of AMP with diluted KOH, and the released Cs is then absorbed on a cation exchange resin for neutron irradiation [219].…”

“…Mass spectrometric techniques such as TIMS [275], AMS [276][277], RIMS [97,278], and ICP-MS [64,[279][280][282][283] have also been used for the determination of Pu isotopes. During the last decade, the use of ICP-MS has gained a increased interest as an alternative to alpha spectrometry because of the good sensitivity, short analytical time and 239 Pu -240 Pu - 242 Pu isotopic information which are difficult to obtain through alpha spectrometry due either to overlapping peaks of 239 Pu at low levels (fg-pg range).…”

Determining 241Pu in environmental samples: case studies in alpine soils

“…This permits the measurement of the low-energy β particles of 241 Pu in the presence of the other Pu α-emitters. Recently, atom counting of 241 Pu by ICP-MS has also been possible in environmental samples [16][17][18][19][20]. However, a major drawback of ICP-MS is the high detection limit of 2-4 Bq/kg [17,20] 241 Pu, a high degree of radiochemical purification is required in order to eliminate interferences from other environmental radionuclides.…”

“…Recently, atom counting of 241 Pu by ICP-MS has also been possible in environmental samples [16][17][18][19][20]. However, a major drawback of ICP-MS is the high detection limit of 2-4 Bq/kg [17,20] 241 Pu, a high degree of radiochemical purification is required in order to eliminate interferences from other environmental radionuclides. This has been successfully achieved by separation and purification steps involving the use of ion chromatography or liquid-liquid extraction methods [5,12,13].…”