Pre-concentration of actinoids from waters: a comparison of various sorbents

The first part of comparison study was based on the properties of different sorbents. These included different forms of manganese oxides, and specific organic ion-exchangers: HYPHAN and POLYORGS. In order to provide reproducible samples with moderate presence of possible interferences, spiked tap water was used for this first set of experiments. Results indicate that the sorption of Th, U, Pu and Am varies for different forms of manganese oxides. These variations are attributed to different physico-chemical properties of the oxides. HYPHAN was limited in its sorption to Th and U. The manganese oxide dissolved rapidly and the radiochemical separation procedure was quick and simple using extraction chromatography techniques. The radionuclides in the water samples were determined by ICP-MS and/or alpha spectrometry.