Scholarly record
APPLICATION OF INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS-SPECTROMETRY FOR DETERMINATION OF URANIUM AND PLUTONIUM CONTENT AND ISOTOPIC RATIOS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES
Abstract
The determination of environmental contamination with natural and artificial actinide isotopes and evaluation of their source requires precise determination of concentration and isotopic ratios of actinides in environmental samples. The most conventional analytical tools used for uranium and plutonium isotope determination are liquid scintillation and alpha spectrometry, and thermal ionization mass spectrometry is still considered as the primary method for determination of plutonium isotope ratios. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) can offer now another alternative method for the isotopic analysis of long-lived radionuclides at the ultra-trace concentration level due to its high sensitivity, good accuracy and precision. This paper presents and discuses the results obtained for plutonium and uranium content and isotope ratios by sector field ICP-MS in different environmental samples. The determination of uranium and plutonium concentrations and isotopic ratios were performed using high resolution mass spectrometer ELEMENT Finnigan MAT with ultrasonic nebulizer U-5000AT+. The detection limit was estimated as 1.10-4 ppb (238U), 2.10-6 ppb (234,235,236U, 239,240,242Pu) in 5\% HNO3 solution. The UH+/U+ and PuH+/Pu+ formation rate was about 3.10-5 and sensitivity of 238U up to 3.106 cps ppb-1 was achieved. The precision of concentration determination was 2-5\% (RSD), and the precision of isotopic analysis was 0.5 \% (238U/235U) and 10 \% (238U/234U, 238U/236U). Formed molecular interferences and background at measured masses were taken into account for reception of correct results. On the basis of the received data the conclusion about convenience of ICP-MS alongside with $\alpha$-spectrometry for ecological monitoring has been made.
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References7
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