Ultrasensitive detection of 244Pu in environmental samples by accelerator mass spectrometry. Issue 12 (1st November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Păceşilă, Doru; Bishop, Shawn; Stanciu, Iuliana; Enăchescu, Mihaela; Petre, Alexandru Răzvan; Virgolici, Marian; Iancu, Decebal; Ţugulan, Liviu; Done, Laurenţiu; Petraglia, Antonio; Terrasi, Filippo; Marzaioli, Fabio; Porzio, Giuseppe; Buompane, Rafaelle; Gialanella, Lucio
• Is Part Of: Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry. Volume 37:Issue 12(2022)
• Page Start: 2581
• Page End: 2588
• Publication Date: 2022-11-01
• Subjects: Atomic spectra -- Periodicals; Atomic absorption spectroscopy -- Periodicals; 543.0858
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ja00283c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-9477

Abstract

Abstract : Plutonium radiochemical separation using TEVA resin and chemical recoveries determined by alpha spectrometry. Zero background measurement of 244 Pu by AMS from environmental sediments from Bikini Atoll island and the Pacific Ocean. Abstract : For the ultrasensitive determination of 244 Pu by accelerator mass spectrometry, a suitable methodology was developed at the IFIN-HH AMS laboratory. Alpha spectrometry was used to verify the performance of the radiochemical procedure for plutonium extraction, including preparation of alpha sources by electrodeposition and microprecipitation. The chemical yield for plutonium extraction from environmental samples was found to be reasonable (∼86%) for our purposes. The 244 Pu AMS measurements were performed using two AMS systems, 1 MV (IFIN-HH) and 3 MV (CIRCE) accelerators. The spectra collected using chemical blanks clearly show the zero background when measuring mass 244, while a total measurement efficiency for both systems of the order of 10 −4 was estimated. Regarding the concentration of 244 Pu per gram of sediment, we obtained hundreds of atto-grams per gram for the sediment of Bikini Atoll, while for the sediment of the Pacific Ocean the level is of the order of several tens of atto-grams per gram. In addition, we determined isotopic ratios for 240 Pu/ 239 Pu and 244 Pu/ 239 Pu for both certified reference materials, and they are in fine agreement within the 2 σ limits when comparing the two AMS systems used in this work as well as compared to other published results.