Rapid Extraction of Plutonium from Urine by Pyrosulfate Fusion and PERALS Spectroscopy

Rapid Extraction of Plutonium from Urine by Pyrosulfate Fusion and PERALS Spectroscopy R.L. Metzger, P.H. Pouquette, and G.W. Klingler Radiation Safety Engineering, Inc. Chandler, AZ Abstract To effectively treat accident victims exposed to airborne isotopes of Plutonium, chelation therapy must be started before the Plutonium is fixed in bone. Urine bioassay samples must be processed rapidly after an accident to identify those patients that should be treated. We introduce a method to rapidly analyze a urine bioassay sample within four hours of the receipt of the samples using a pyrosulfate fusion in platinum crucibles to rapidly destroy all organics and solubilize all salts in the sample. The Plutonium is separated by solvent extraction in centrifuge tubes using an extractive scintillator with P,P’ di(2-ethylhexyl)methanediphosphonic acid (DIPEX) as the extractant. The organic phase is counted on a PERALS spectrometer. For a 100 mL urine sample, recoveries of the isotopes of Plutonium are >85% and the recovery for each individual sample may be traced using a Pu tracer solution. The lower limit 236