Strontium Extraction from Urine Samples Westinghouse Savannah River

Strontium Extraction from Urine Samples Westinghouse Savannah River Company Gerald D. Levi, Jr. 1

Strontium Extraction from Urine Samples • Introduction • Strontium Analysis Process Flow • Current Strontium Extraction Method • Method Enhancements • Summary 2

Strontium Analysis Process Flow • Sample Receiving • Acidification • Co-Precipitation • Clean-Up • Ion Exchange 3

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Current Strontium Extraction Method • • • Acidify Samples with 10 m. L of 8 M HNO 3 Condition Sr resin with 5 m. L of 8 M HNO 3 Transfer acidified samples onto Sr resin Rinse Sr resin with 5 m. L of 8 M HNO 3 Rinse Sr resin with 5 m. L of 3 M HNO 3 - 0. 05 M Oxalic Acid Rinse Sr resin with 5 m. L of 8 M HNO 3 Rinse Sr resin with 10 m. L of 0. 05 M HNO 3 Heat lamp dry samples onto planchets Analyze sample planchets by gas proportional counting 9

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Method Enhancements • Removed a rinse step with 5 m. L of 8 M HNO 3 - Save approximately 10 -20 minutes a batch • Matrix matched the calibration standards and samples - More representative detector efficiency • Replaced the gravity flow method with a vacuum method - Reduced the batch extraction time by a factor of two • Switched from Columns to Cartridges Improved spike recovery from 70% + 10 % to 85% +10% 11

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Summary • Routine recoveries of 75% - 95% • Minimized Inconclusive Analyses (IA) and Reruns due to higher recoveries • Reduced batch extraction time from 4 hrs. to 2 hrs • Cost savings due to freeing up technician time to complete other lab tasks 14

Acknowledgement • Sherrod Maxwell • David Fauth • Christy Posey • Ginny Lackey 15