Use of EIChroM's TRU resin in the determination of americium, plutonium and uranium in air filter and water samples

摘要

TRU Resin, an extraction chromatographic material (octyl (phenyl)-N,Ndiisobutylca rbamoyl-methylphosphene oxide (CMPO) dissolved in tributyl phosphate (TBP)) manufactured by EIChroM Industries, was tested for its actinide sorption and desorption characteristics. A study was initiated to demonstrate the effectiveness of extracting plutonium, americium and uranium from water and air filter samples from the Environmental Measurements Laboratory's Quality Assessment Program (QAP), and the effectiveness of subsequent desorption of one chemical species at a time in order to prepare each of them for a spectrometry. Crossover of plutonium into the americium fraction with the TRU Resin was observed and could not be eliminated while using TRU Resin only. However, prior extraction of plutonium using an anion exchange resin can overcome this problem. A method for the determination of americium is proposed which combines the extraction of plutonium onto Bio-Rad AG 1-X8 anion exchange resin with the extraction of americium using the TRU Resin. This method was tested on three triplicate sets of QAP air filters and two triplicate sets of QAP water samples. The recoveries ranged from 70 to 90 percent, and the results were identical to those obtained by the existing methods. The time required to perform the analysis for americium was shortened from 5 weeks to 1 week.