Electrodeposition of actinides from saline groundwaters for alpha-spectrometric determination

An establishéd electrodeposition method for separating americium and plutonium from highly saline used-fuel-leaching solutions has been extended to the determination of Np and U in saline groundwaters. The interference of major ionic species in groundwater on the yield was investigated using three groundwaters of varying salinity (ionic strength I=1.37, 0.0748 and 0.0253 mol/l). High average yields (>92%), and good reproducibility were obtained for Np and U electroplated from solutions with ionic strength less than 0.1. The greatest interferences from individual ions were caused by Mg²⁺ and HCO₃^–.