Marine sediments, transuranic elements

Livingston, H.D., Mann, D.R. and Bowen, V.T., Analytical procedures for transuranic elements in seawater and marine sediments. In Analytical Methods in Oceanography, Advances in Chemistry Series 147. American Chemical Society, 1975. 

Analytical Procedures for Transuranic Elements in Seawater and Marine Sediments... 

Most of the procedures for analysis of transuranic nuclides in seawater and marine sediments have been described in detail elsewhere both by our laboratory and those of other workers. A full discussion of these various procedures is found in a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of techniques proposed for the analyses of transuranic elements in the marine environment (4). Here we concentrate on the procedures used at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the problems encoim-tered, and what is being learned from the data. 

A full account of the problems considered in collecting, storing, and processing marine samples for transuranic analysis is given in the above-mentioned review (4). The specific methods discussed here were foimd effective at least for the transuranic analyses of seawater and sediments contaminated by global fallout, nuclear fuel reprocessing wastes, or nuclear power plant operation waste. In these cases, a preliminary acid treatment of the sample in the presence of suitable yield monitors seems to solubilize the transuranic elements and achieves isotopic equilibration between the yield monitor and sample. The yield monitors used were either Pu or sep qj. 238,239,240,24ip whereas Am was used for Am, 2 Cm, and by inference, Cf. In addition, it was convenient to use 50 mg of a lanthanide (neodymium) as a carrier for americium to purify the separated americium fraction. 

G.R. Choppin (Florida State University) is investigating the synergistic reaction of actinide-TTA complexes with brown ether adducts in benzene solutions and interaction of plutonium and other transuranic elements with the components of marine sediments under different conditions. The interaction of plutonium-238 dioxide heat source with the marine environment is also under investigation by H.V. Weiss (Naval Coastal Systems Center). 

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