A refined technique for extracting strontium from water samples and quantifying strontium radioisotopes using a gas flow proportional counter
Phan Long Ho, Vu Tuan Minh, Le Dinh Hung, Le Hoang Minh, Tran Thien Thanh, Dang Van Chinh, Chau Van Tao
Progress in Nuclear Energy 187 (2025) 105856
Abstract:
This study focuses on developing an improved analytical method for determining strontium radioactivity (Sr-89 and Sr-90) in water samples. While the original procedure used high concentrations of acid, requiring more sample processing time and reducing safety and analytical performance, the proposed procedure addresses all the drawbacks of the old method. The new method optimizations include using 65 % HNO3 instead of 90 % HNO3 for safety, reducing separation steps from forty-three to twenty-six to save time and costs, and shortening the century equilibration between Sr-90 and Y-90 to under two weeks. Method validation on sixty-one samples shows the detection limit is 0.035 Bq.L-1, meeting EPA requirements of 0.074 Bq.L-1. Strong linearity (r = 0.999) between spiked and measured activity concentrations was observed in the working range of 0.046–23.371 Bq.L-1 encompasses WHO’s 10 Bq.L-1 limit for Sr-90 in drinking water. Interlaboratory testing of three IAEA samples over 2021–2023 further verifies accuracy. The results indicated that the new method has improved efficiency and safety. That reduced costs and analysis time, demonstrating the method’s suitability for various radioanalytical applications, particularly emergency nuclear scenarios demanding rapid Sr-90 isotope quantification.
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