REVIEW OF ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF AM-241 IN SOILS AND SEDIMENTS

This paper reviews the literature on the separation and quantitative d etermination of Am-241 in soils and sediments. It identifies a range o f separation techniques that have been employed by various investigato rs and assesses the merits of each technique to determine a preferred method for the separation of Am-241 in a complex matrix such as soil o r sediment. The paper also presents the experiences of two U.K. labora tories dealing with the separation of Am-241 from sediments revealing problems encountered with unpredictable behaviour of the separation ch emistry. Suggestions are offered as to the cause of these problems alo ng with possible solutions to the difficulties. Copyright (C) 1996 Els evier Science Ltd