Rapid method for the determination of 226Ra in hydraulic fracturing wastewater samples

A new method that rapidly pre-concentrates and measures 226Ra from hydraulic fracturing wastewater samples was developed in the Savannah River Environmental Laboratory. The method improves the quality of 226Ra measurements using gamma spectrometry by providing up to 100 × pre-concentration of 226Ra from this difficult sample matrix, which contains very high levels of calcium, barium, strontium, magnesium and sodium. The high chemical yield, typically 80–90 %, facilitates a low detection limit, important for lower level samples, and indicates method ruggedness. Ba-133 tracer is used to determine chemical yield and correct for geometry-related counting issues. The 226Ra sample preparation takes <2 h.