A chromatography chemistry for purifying Pa from U-Nb metal alloys

We present a chromatography chemistry for purifying protactinium from uranium metal alloys containing weight-percent concentrations of niobium. Niobium is precipitated in 9 M HCl without the co-precipitation of Pa as demonstrated by gamma-ray spectrometry. Protactinium is further purified using Bio-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry 2023-02, Vol.332 (2), p.369-376
Main Authors: Engel, John R., Denton, Joanna S., Lamont, Stephen P., Buettner, Jacob E., Chen, Christine Y., Steiner, Robert E., Kayzar-Boggs, Theresa M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alloys
Analysis
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Chromatography
Diagnostic Radiology
Dilution
Gamma rays
Hadrons
Heavy Ions
Inorganic Chemistry
Niobium
Nuclear Chemistry
Nuclear Physics
Physical Chemistry
Protactinium
Uranium
Uranium base alloys
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Summary:We present a chromatography chemistry for purifying protactinium from uranium metal alloys containing weight-percent concentrations of niobium. Niobium is precipitated in 9 M HCl without the co-precipitation of Pa as demonstrated by gamma-ray spectrometry. Protactinium is further purified using Bio-Rad™ anion resin AG® 1-X8 and 9 M HCl + 0.0128 M HF. A Pa/Nb separation factor of 85,000 and a 90% Pa recovery is demonstrated, which is amenable to 231 Pa concentration determination by isotope dilution and 231 Pa/ 235 U model age calculation for nuclear forensics.
ISSN:0236-5731
1588-2780
DOI:10.1007/s10967-022-08747-7