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• Barium sulphate method for consecutive determination of radium-226 and radium-228 on the same source (PDF 541 KB) |  (Word - 664 MB)

About the report

Determination of two isotopes of radium - ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra - has been an important part of the monitoring and research program of the Environmental Radioactivity group of eriss. Difficulties were encountered with a routine electrodeposition method for the determination of both isotopes in 2001, at which point a faster and more reliable method for the determination of ²²⁶Ra by co-precipitation with barium was developed (the barium sulphate method). This new method was not suitable for the determination of ²²⁸Ra and a reliable method for assessing this isotope was needed. The barium sulphate method for ²²⁶ determination was thus expanded to allow for determination of the ²²⁸Ra isotope via measurement of the ingrown daughters, either ²²⁸Ac via gamma spectrometry or ²²⁸Th via alpha spectrometry.

This report provides a detailed description of the radiochemical separation and radiation measurement techniques for the determination of ²²⁸Ra via the barium sulphate method. Detection limits, uncertainty estimation and the applicability of the method to various sample matrices are presented and discussed.