Publication Abstract

Quantifying the Alpha-spectrometric analysis of plutonium and americium nuclides down to the 10µBq level

B.R. Harvey, M.B. Lovett and P. Blowers

An attempt has been made to establish the lowest practical level at which alpha-emitting plutonium and americium nuclides may be quantified by procedures based on alpha-spectrometry. Prompted by the recent upsurge of interest in mass-spectrometric techniques such as ICP-MS and RIMS plus a desire to confirm the validity of various published data relating to the geochemical and biological behaviour of these two man-made elements, the study reported in this paper makes use of the results of quality control analyses covering 5 orders of magnitude of plutonium and americium levels, which have been measured over a time span of 8 years, to assess the accuracy and general practicalities of analysis by alpha-spectrometry at very low levels. It concludes that amounts as low as 10 µBq may be determined provided that counting times as long as 10 weeks can be tolerated.

Reference:

B.R. Harvey, M.B. Lovett and P. Blowers, 1993. Quantifying the Alpha-spectrometric analysis of plutonium and americium nuclides down to the 10µBq level. Applied Radiation Isotopes, 44(6): 957-966.