Rapid determination of actinides in emergency food samples |
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Authors: | Sherrod L Maxwell Brian K Culligan Angel Kelsey-Wall Patrick J Shaw |
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Institution: | (1) Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, Building 735-B, Aiken, SC 29808, USA |
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Abstract: | A new rapid method for the determination of actinides in food samples has been developed at the Savannah River Site Environmental
Lab (Aiken, SC, USA) that can be used for emergency response or routine food samples. If a radiological dispersive device
or improvised nuclear device event occurs, there will be a urgent need for rapid analyzes of many different environmental
matrices, as well as food samples, to support dose mitigation and protect general populations from radioactivity that may
enter the food chain. The recent accident at Fukushima nuclear power plant in March, 2011 reinforces the need to have rapid
analyzes for radionuclides in environmental and food samples. The new method to determine actinides in food samples utilizes
a furnace ashing step, a rapid sodium hydroxide fusion method, a lanthanum fluoride matrix removal step, and a column separation
process with stacked TEVA, TRU, and DGA resin cartridges. The furnace ashing and rapid fusion steps are performed in relatively
inexpensive, reusable zirconium crucibles. Alpha emitters are prepared using rare earth micro precipitation for counting by
alpha spectrometry. The method showed high chemical recoveries and effective removal of interferences. The determination of
actinides in food samples can be performed in less than 8 h for 10 g samples with excellent quality for emergency samples
using short count times. Larger food samples (100 g) may be processed in 24 h or less. The rapid fusion technique is a rugged
sample digestion method that ensures that any refractory actinide particles are effectively digested. This method can be used
to meet the derived intervention level guidelines recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations. |
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