Determination of 234U and 238U Activities in Soil by Liquid Scintillation and High-Resolution Alpha Spectrometry

Montero-Cabrera María Elena; Caraveo-Castro Carmen del Rocío; Méndez-García Carmen Grisel; Mendieta-Mendoza Aurora; Rentería-Villalobos Marusia; Cabral-Lares Rocío Magaly

doi:10.15415/jnp.2021.82014

Authors

Montero-Cabrera María Elena Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados (CIMAV), Miguel de Cervantes 120, Compl. Ind. Chihuahua, Chihuahua CP 31136, Mexico https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1906-0105
Caraveo-Castro Carmen del Rocío Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados (CIMAV), Miguel de Cervantes 120, Compl. Ind. Chihuahua, Chihuahua CP 31136, Mexico
Méndez-García Carmen Grisel CÁTEDRAS-CONACYT Instituto de Física de la UNAM. Circuito de la Investigación Científica, Ciudad Universitaria CP 04510, CDMX, México
Mendieta-Mendoza Aurora Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Chihuahua. Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km.1, Chihuahua, Chih, CP 31453, México
Rentería-Villalobos Marusia Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Chihuahua. Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km.1, Chihuahua, Chih, CP 31453, México
Cabral-Lares Rocío Magaly Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados (CIMAV), Miguel de Cervantes 120, Complejo Industrial Chihuahua, Chih. CP 31136, Mexico; Tecnológico Nacional de México, Campus Chihuahua II, Ave. de las Industrias #11101, Complejo Industrial Chihuahua, Chih. CP 31130, Mexico

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15415/jnp.2021.82014

Keywords:

Uranium, Alpha spectrometry, IAEA-375

Abstract

Uranium is a radioactive element with a special presence in the rocks, waters, sediments, soils, and plants at the state of Chihuahua. The activity ratio of 238U/234U is used to explain the uranium transport by surface water and its deposition in arid environments. In this work, the activity concentration of natural U isotopes is determined by PERALS liquid scintillation and high-resolution alpha spectrometry (AS, Canberra camera 7401VR) in the Environmental Radiological Surveillance Laboratory (LVRA) at CIMAV, Chihuahua. Uranium is extracted from soils through the scintillating liquid extractor URAEX for PERALS, with chemical recovery (CR) of 80 - 85 %, and through the ion exchange resin UTEVA + electrode position by the Hallstadius method, with CR of 85 - 90 %, for AS. The procedures of 234U and 238U activity concentration (AC) determination in soils were validated by their application to the certified reference material IAEA-375. The resulting values were in the reference range of the certified or informative values. Both procedures were applied to 6 representative soil samples, with AC of the same order of magnitude or greater, and similar CR and compatible results. Both procedures are satisfactory for the purposes of LVRA research and in general.

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