Radiochemical determination of plutonium in marine samples by extraction chromatography

Very low levels of plutonium (^239,240Pu and ²³⁸Pu) in marine samples (sea water,sediments, marine organisms) are determined by extraction on columns of tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide supported on microporous polyethylene (Micro thene-710), electrode- position, and α-spectrometry. ²³⁶Pu or ²⁴²Pu is added as the yield detector and a high-resolution α-spectrometer is used for counting. The final recoveries are 62.6% ± 9.7(σ)for sea water, 45.4% ± 9.6(0) for sediments and 81.7%± 4.5(σ) for marine organisms. Themethod enables ^239.240pu and ²³⁸Pu to be detected at the femtocurie level.