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A rapid procedure for plutonium separation in large volumes of fresh and saline water by manganese dioxide coprecipitation

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Abstract

A rapid procedure is described for the separation of plutonium radionuclides from large volumes of fresh and saline water by means of a manganese dioxide coprecipitation technique. This procedure has been used in the laboratory and in the field to process 50 to 400 liter water samples. Plutonium is carried through an oxidation and reduction step to insure complete equilibration between added yield tracers and the plutonium present in the water sample. Average recovery under optimum conditions has been 80% for seawater and over 90% for freshwater samples processed in the field with simple equipment. The procedure can be used also to separate plutonium from water samples by direct adsorption on MnO2-impregnated cartridges. Under laboratory conditions the adsorption on MnO2 was independent of the oxidation states of plutonium in aqueous samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical and Environmental Research Division, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, University of California, 94550, Livermore, California, USA

    K. M. Wong, G. S. Brown & V. E. Noshkin

Authors
  1. K. M. Wong
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  2. G. S. Brown
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  3. V. E. Noshkin
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Wong, K.M., Brown, G.S. & Noshkin, V.E. A rapid procedure for plutonium separation in large volumes of fresh and saline water by manganese dioxide coprecipitation. J. Radioanal. Chem. 42, 7–15 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02520621

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02520621

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