A quick liquid scintillation counting technique for analysis of 90Sr in environmental samples

Abstract In this study, to improve the problem of waiting for the growth of 90 Y for Cerenkov counting and save the time of 90 Sr analysis, an organic cocktail sample was counted by a liquid scintillation counting system immediately after the purification of 90 Sr without waiting for the growth of 90 Y. The chemical separation and the measurement procedures for 90 Sr radioactivity analysis can be completed in 24 h. In order to verify the performance of the improved method, the activity of 90 Sr in six environmental reference samples was determined after radiochemical purification with a crown-ether resin column, and subsequent measurement by both the Cerenkov and the organic cocktail liquid scintillation counting methods. The results revealed that the organic cocktail liquid scintillation counting was quicker and had higher efficiency and lower minimum detectable activity (MDA) than the Cerenkov counting.