Desideri D, Meli M A, Roselli C, Testa C, Boulyga S F, Becker J S
General Chemistry Institute, Urbino University, Urbino, Italy.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2002 Nov;374(6):1091-5. doi: 10.1007/s00216-002-1575-5. Epub 2002 Oct 16.
It is well known that ammunition containing depleted uranium (DU) was used by NATO during the Balkan conflict. To evaluate the origin of DU (the enrichment of natural uranium or the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel) it is necessary to directly detect the presence of activation products ((236)U, (239)Pu, (240)Pu, (241)Am, and (237)Np) in the ammunition. In this work the analysis of actinides by alpha-spectrometry was compared with that by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after selective separation of ultratraces of transuranium elements from the uranium matrix. (242)Pu and (243)Am were added to calculate the chemical yield. Plutonium was separated from uranium by extraction chromatography, using tri- n-octylamine (TNOA), with a decontamination factor higher than 10(6); after elution plutonium was determined by ICP-MS ((239)Pu and (240)Pu) and alpha-spectrometry ((239+240)Pu) after electroplating. The concentration of Pu in two DU penetrator samples was 7 x 10(-12) g g(-1) and 2 x 10(-11) g g(-1). The (240)Pu/(239)Pu isotope ratio in one penetrator sample (0.12+/-0.04) was significantly lower than the (240)Pu/(239)Pu ratios found in two soil samples from Kosovo (0.35+/-0.10 and 0.27+/-0.07). (241)Am was separated by extraction chromatography, using di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP), with a decontamination factor as high as 10(7). The concentration of (241)Am in the penetrator samples was 2.7 x 10(-14) g g(-1) and <9.4 x 10(-15) g g(-1). In addition (237)Np was detected at ultratrace levels. In general, ICP-MS and alpha-spectrometry results were in good agreement. The presence of anthropogenic radionuclides ((236)U, (239)Pu,(240)Pu, (241)Am, and (237)Np) in the penetrators indicates that at least part of the uranium originated from the reprocessing of nuclear fuel. Because the concentrations of radionuclides are very low, their radiotoxicological effect is negligible.
众所周知，北约在巴尔干冲突期间使用了含贫铀（DU）的弹药。为评估贫铀的来源（天然铀的浓缩或乏核燃料的后处理），有必要直接检测弹药中活化产物（（236）U、（239）Pu、（240）Pu、（241）Am和（237）Np）的存在。在这项工作中，将超痕量超铀元素从铀基体中选择性分离后，通过α能谱法对锕系元素的分析与电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）的分析进行了比较。添加了（242）Pu和（243）Am以计算化学产率。使用三正辛胺（TNOA）通过萃取色谱法从铀中分离钚，去污系数高于10^6；洗脱后，通过ICP-MS（（239）Pu和（240）Pu）和电镀后的α能谱法（（239 + 240）Pu）测定钚。两个贫铀穿甲弹样品中钚的浓度分别为7×10^(-12) g g^(-1)和2×10^(-11) g g^(-1)。一个穿甲弹样品中的（240）Pu/（239）Pu同位素比（0.12±0.
