Ion chromatography separation of alkali, alkaline earth, transition, posttransition, lanthanide, and actinide metal cations in waste sludge

Trace radionuclides are present in concentrations of only a few hundred dis integrations-per-minute-per-milliliter in high-level radioactive waste samp les. These radionuclides can be separated and analyzed using liquid scintil lation counting and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The autho rs developed an ion chromatography method to separate 31 cations in a singl e chromatographic run, Their method uses a linear gradient, a step gradient , and isocratic elution using four eluents in four separate eluent phases. The separation requires 45 min and has detection limits ranging from 0.1 to 5.0 ppm using spectro photometric detection for nonradioactive cations, Th is article presents the applications, limitations, interferences, precision , and accuracy of this method.