Activation product analysis in a mixed sample containing both fission and neutron activation products

This work describes a radiochemical separation procedure for the determination of gold (Au), platinum (Pt), tantalum (Ta), and tungsten (W) activation in the presence of fission products. Chemical separations result in a reduction in the minimum detectable activity by a factor of 287, 207, 141, and 471 for 182Ta, 187W, 197Pt, and 198Au respectively, with greater than 90% recovery for all elements. These results represent the highest recoveries and lowest minimum detectable activities for 182Ta, 187W, 197Pt, and 198Au from mixed fission-activation product samples to date, enabling considerable refinement in the measurement uncertainties for neutron fluences in highly complex sample matrices.