Rapid activation product separations from fission products and soil matrixes

A rapid method for the separation and qualitative analysis of several neutron activation products (¹⁹⁸Au, ¹⁹²Ir, ⁷²Ga, ⁵¹Cr, ^191/195m/197Pt, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁷Co, and ⁵⁹Fe) from fission products and soil matrixes has been developed. Analytes were isolated within 20 h using ion exchange chromatography. After separation, the activation products were characterized by γ-spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. Validation experiments demonstrated versatility of the method, showing that the activation products could be isolated from fresh fission products and other contaminants associated with complex soil matrixes.