Fission track methods for identification of actinide-rich particles in environmental samples are effective but require access to advanced tools and significant time.  This work presents an alternative method for identification and isolation of Pu-rich particles from bulk soil samples. We examined soils that were collected after remediation of the 1960 BOMARC nuclear accident site to test the utility of our method. Samples of 60 � 80 g of soil were initially counted for 15,000 s using gamma spectroscopy to estimate activity; smaller aliquots of 7 � 10 g were then screened for 1,800 s to segregate activity-rich aliquots of soil. Particles were located via: 1) area scans with a well-collimated cadmium telluride detector or; 2) 60 minute exposures using digital autoradiography. Pu-rich particles as small as 40 �m in diameter have been detected and isolated in BOMARC soil samples using this method.LA-UR 11-01792 Unclassified

Methods for identifying and isolating residual particles of plutonium from soil

242nd National Meeting (2011)

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