Preparation of alpha-spectrometric sources by co-precipitation with Fe(OH)(3): application to uranium

A coprecipitation method using Fe(OH)(3) as carrier, previously studied for preparation of alpha spectrometric sources of actinides, was applied to ur anium samples. The results point to a special behaviour of U(VI). Although chemical recoveries were lower than those obtained for actinides such as pl utonium, americium and thorium, they were strongly dependent on the concent ration of U(VI) in the sample. Quantitative yields were obtained when the c oncentration of U(VI) exceeded 16 mu g/ml. The influence of concentration o n the FWHM obtained are also discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.