A Study on Determination of Potentially Hazardous Plutonium Isotopes in Environmental Samples

Abstract

Due to the lack of stable plutonium isotopes, and the high mobility as well as long half-life, plutonium is considered one of the most important radioelement in safety assessment of environmental radioactivity and nuclear waste management. A number of analytical methods have been developed over the past decades for determination of plutonium in environmental samples. The article discusses different analytical techniques and presents the results of plutonium isotopes determination by alpha spectrometry and accelerator mass spectrometry in environmental samples. The concentrations of plutonium isotopes in analyzed samples indicates its measurement is of great importance for environmental and safety assessment, especially in contaminated areas.

Keywords:

• plutonium isotopes
• ²³⁸Pu
• ²³⁸Pu/^239+240Pu activity ratio
• ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atomic ratio
• radioactivity
• methods of determination
• environmental samples

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the financial support under grant DS/530-8120-D196-13.