Radioanalytical determination of 239+240Pu and 241Am in bioassay samples by anion exchange and extraction chromatography: Preliminary considerations about the two methods

During the radiation protection surveillance of exposed workers samples of urine and faeces were collected. Anion exchange chromatography was used for the separation of Pu. We investigated a technique to purify and separate Pu and Am isotopes using extraction chromatography with TRU resin. We tested different procedures to dissolve organic matter and eliminate interferences for chromatographic elution. At the end of the process we have succeeded in electroplating the two radionuclides separately. We have also studied extraction chromatography with UTEVA resin to purify Pu isotopes and separate it from natural uranium radioisotopes, present in some biological samples. We validated a method for the determination of Pu in biological samples and a rather constant chemical yield and resolved peaks were obtained. The preliminary studies on TRU resin have indicated that it is possible to combine extraction and anion-exchange chromatography for analysing separately Pu and Am isotopes from the same sample aliquote.