Effects of major inorganic constituents of asphalt on the rapid determination of plutonium
Date
2024
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Abstract
In case of a nuclear incident, standard radioanalytical techniques must be available to analyze radionuclides in unusual matrices. Radiochemical analysis of samples in standard matrices of soil, water, and air are very well established; however, much less research has been conducted on the effect of unusual matrices such as steel, concrete, glass, and asphalt. In the event of a detonation of an improvised nuclear device (IND) in an urban environment, the standard separation techniques used for plutonium separations from asphalt samples originating from roadways and roofing shingles must rigorously be tested to provide useful insight on the characteristics of the special nuclear material. Batch studies were used to determine the changes in uptake of plutonium on extraction chromatography resins in the presence of trace metal components found in asphalt including aluminum, iron, and manganese at possible ranges found in asphalt samples. In these studies, selected cations with a +3-oxidation state had some interesting effects on the uptake of plutonium on the extraction chromatography resins. Aluminum increased the sorption of plutonium only on DGA and TRU resins especially at rising concentrations. Iron very unexpectedly increased the sorption of plutonium on all resins particularly at high concentrations. Additionally, metals found in the +3 oxidation state were shown to interfere with the recovery of plutonium from column studies conducted due to the synergistic effects. From this data, the contaminates found in asphalt with a +3-oxidation state may either compete with plutonium or give rise to a "salting out" effect that increases the sorption on the extraction chromatography resins and will need to be considered during the development of a rapid separation technique for plutonium from asphalt samples.
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nuclear forensics
health physics
radiochemistry