Effective separation of Am(III) and Cm(III) using a DGA resin via the selective oxidation of Am(III) to Am(V)

A new method was developed to effectively separate Am(III) from Cm(III). Am(III) was selectively oxidized to Am(V) using a mixture of Na2S2O8, Ag(I), and NaOCl in 0.01 M HNO3. Cm(III) was selectively retained on a DGA resin, while Am(V) had no retention. A separation factor of 110 ± 20 was usually obtained from a single separation. The new separation method was applied to determine Cm isotopes 244, 245 and 246 by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) in spent nuclear fuel samples.