To obtain a better understanding of the mobility of actinide element contaminants in the environment, the association of the contaminants with specific host phases of soils and sediments must be investigated.  This investigation is most commonly conducted using sequential extraction techniques that employ the selective dissolution of soil phases with increasingly aggressive chemical treatment.  A sequential extraction procedure by Outola et al (2009) is used as the basis for this research.  Five operationally defined soil fractions are leached using the procedure: exchangeable, carbonate, Fe/Mn oxides, organic and residual.  The procedure is applied to various standard reference materials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to determine its applicability across a broad range of soil profiles.  Analysis of the resulting leachates containing multiple actinide elements requires sample separation and purification prior to alpha spectroscopy and can be very time consuming and labor intensive.  An extraction chromatography based procedure by Maxwell et al (2006) is therefore investigated as an alternative separation method due to the quick and efficient separation of actinide elements that can be achieved.  Samples are prepared for alpha spectroscopy using cerium fluoride microprecipitation.  Results give a better understanding of how the procedure is affected when used with soils and sediments from various environments; i.e. lake sediment vs. sediment from an ocean lagoon.  Information on bioavailability, mobility, origin and mode of occurrence can be furnished from this method, which is important for such applications as environmental remediation, fate and transport of radionuclide contaminants in the environment, and nuclear forensics.

Application of a sequential extraction procedure for analysis of actinides in various soil and sediment samples

248th National Meeting (2014)

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