Radioactive lanthanides are produced during nuclear fission, often in high yield. The intergroup separation of the lanthanide elements is a difficult process due to the chemical similarity of the elements but is necessary for fission yield characterization. Common methods for group separation rely on the small differences resulting from small changes in ionic radii across the lanthanide group. The ultimate goal for the separation method presented is to prepare fractions for radiometric characterization using gamma and / or beta detection. Separated fractions allow for beta detection which requires elementally pure samples due to lack of energy resolution; separation also lowers the background and detection limit for both beta and gamma detection. Full separation of samarium, europium, and terbium is the focus of the research presented and was accomplished using commercially available extraction resins. The separation of all lanthanide elements are affected by the methods developed and will also be presented. Samarium and europium often co-elute from extraction resins and while they can be distinguished from one another by gamma spectrometry full separation lowers the detection limit for each element; beta analysis requires full separation but has the benefit of higher detection efficiency and higher sensitivity than gamma analysis. Europium and terbium often co-elute and also require additional purification. A method has been developed to separate a mixture of samarium, europium, and terbium into radiometrically clean fractions in less than 15 hours using Eichrom's LN resin. A second method partially separates samarium and europium, and fully separates terbium in less than four hours.

Optimization of lanthanide separations using Eichrom's LN resin

247th National Meeting (2014)

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