Determination of Protactinium by Gamma Spectrometry

Protactinium

“…Multichannel alpha-spectrometers are used for control of radiochemical purity of isolated samples (Salutsky et al, 1957;Spitsyn and D'yachkova, 1960;Myasoedov and Pal'shin, 1963;Suzuki and Inoue, 1966). 231 Pa also can be characterized with enough reliability by its g-rays spectrum (Salutsky et al, 1956(Salutsky et al, , 1957Barnett, 1957;Suzuki and Inoue, 1966).…”

“…231 Pa also can be characterized with enough reliability by its g-rays spectrum (Salutsky et al, 1956(Salutsky et al, , 1957Barnett, 1957;Suzuki and Inoue, 1966). Samples for alphaspectrometers can be prepared by the electrolytic technique (Ko, 1956(Ko, , 1957Shimojima and Takagi, 1964;Smith and Barnett, 1965).…”

“…A later modification produced a precipitate in the aqueous waste stream, which, according to Salutsky et al (1956), carried down nearly all the Pa. This material was periodically filtered off and eventually yielded a total of about 2 g of Pa (Kirby, 1959;Hertz et al, 1974;Figgins et al, 1975).…”

“…A second cycle of DIBK extraction and stripping yielded 52.4 L of an aqueous solution containing 126.75 g of Pa, 3.25 g of Zr, and 1.42 g of Fe (it was later learned that the product also contained 0.1-4% Nb) (Walter, 1963;Jenkins et al, 1975). Salutsky et al (1956) recovered 0.5 mg of Pa from 5 kg of a material similar to ethereal sludge but only one-tenth as rich. The principal features of the method were: (1) dissolution in 1 M HCl, (2) saturation of the solution with sodium chloride, and (3) boiling to coagulate a small precipitate (chiefly Ca and Si), which quantitatively carried down the Pa.…”

The Production of 231Pa and 232U by Reactor Neutron Irradiation of 230Th and 232Th Mixture

“…A group of U.K.A.E.A., Windscale developed a process to extract a31 Pa from a uranium refinery waste and recovered over 100 g [18], and BROWN et al [19] and SALUTSKY et al [20] have also developed the processes for the routine recovery of M1 Pa. KARRAKER [21] has recovered 231 Pa from the production process of a33 U, a process which may be in future one of the promising production sources of M1 Pa. The aim of the present work is to prove and elaborate the conditions of the production of a33 U and m Pa by reactor neutron irradiation of a30 Th mixed with 23a Th.…”