Isolation of yttrium and strontium from soil samples and rapid determination of Sr-90

A procedure of yttrium and strontium separation from calcium and other cati ons has been developed for rapid determination of Sr-90 in soil samples. Th e procedure involves yttrium, strontium and other cations bound on cation e xchanger AMBERLITE IR-120, separtion of yttrium and strontium from other ca tions, e.g, potassium, calcium, sodium, barium, on anion exchangers AMBERLI TE CG-400 or DOWEX AG Ix 8 with 0.25 mol l(-1) HNO3 in alcohol mixture as e luent, separation of yttrium from strontium on cation exchanger DOWEX 50 x 8 with 3 mol l(-1) HNO3, and determination of Sr-90 on the low-level gas-fl ow beta -counter and by Cherenkow counting on the liquid-scintillation coun ter. It has been shown that this procedure might be successfully applied in rapid determination of Sr-90, in a timesaving manner and without applicati on of strong, concentrated acids. The method is appropriate for determinati on of the water soluble fraction of Sr-90 in different kinds of environment al samples (milk, water, wine, vegetables, etc.) with some modification of the sample preparation procedure.