Lanthanum fluoride coprecipitation technique for the preparation of actinides for alpha-particle spectrometry

A simple and rapid procedure is described by which actinides can be mounted in a form suitable for alpha-particle spectrometry without recourse to electrodeposition. The actinides are coprecipitated as fluorides with 100 g of lanthanum carrier from an acidic solution. The precipitate is mounted on a 0.1 -pore membrane filter containing LaF₃ substrate, also prepared from 100 g of lanthanum. The resolution obtained using samples of pure radiotracers and of frations isolated from lake sediments is generally comparable to that afforded by the conventional electrodeposition technique. The coprecipitation yield is generally quantitative. The entire procedure can be completed in about 90 min.