GEOC 120 |
| Christina Greis, Anders Düker, and Stefan Karlsson. Man-Technology-Environment Research Centre, Örebro University, Department of Natural Sciences, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden |
| Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests have been the most significant source of plutonium into the environment, although discharges and incidents connected to nuclear power production contribute as well. In general, determination of plutonium in environmental samples involves sample dissolution, chemical separation and measurements. Emergency measures require rapid quantitative methods, which are easy and inexpensive to perform. As isotope ratios vary between different sources, precise isotope measurements of 239Pu and 240Pu are of importance. The objective of this study is to investigate sources and compare alpha-spectrometry with ICP-MS for isotope quantification in environmental samples from the aspect of preparedness. These techniques were used for quantification of plutonium in sediment samples collected near Sellafield nuclear re-processing plant (UK). Plutonium was extracted from the original matrices by microwave digestion and purified from interfering elements using anion exchange. Plutonium concentrations were determined by ICP-MS to 50−100 ng/kg sediment and 240Pu/239Pu ratio to 0.21. |
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Poster Session
6:00 PM-9:00 PM, Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Anaheim Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster
Division of Geochemistry |