Extractive separation of a lanthanum tracer from preparations on a calcium carrier obtained from steel samples

The separation of lanthanum from calcium and a number of radioisotopes of other elements by extraction with alkylphosphoric acids and tri-n-butylphosphate has been studied. A quantitative method has been developed for the separation of a lanthanum tracer from neutron-irradiated preparations on a calcium carrier, obtained from the steel-making process. This method improves the detectability of¹⁴⁰La (from 5·10⁻⁷ to 10⁻¹⁰ g of La) by γ-ray spectrometry with a scintillation counter, and enables semiquantitative determination of lanthanum with a liquid GM tube, the error involved being about 100% for La contents >10⁻⁸ g, and about 30% for La contents >10⁻⁷ g.