Alpha spectrometry sample preparation using selectively adsorbing thin films

Several years ago, Switzerland introduced limits for natural radionuclides in food, e.g. 1 Bq/l for 226Ra or 10 Bq/l for the sum of 238U and 234U in drinking water. To make enforcement by regional (cantonal) laboratories more attractive, simplified analytical methods had to be offered, at least for drinking water. A first step has been the development of radium adsorbing sheets. A 20 mm × 20 mm MnO2 film on a polyamide substrate adsorbs more than 80% of the radium present in a 100 ml water sample within 6 h. The film is thin enough to allow for high resolution alpha spectrometry. A second step now under way is to produce thin films, which selectively adsorb uranium. Actually, an ion exchange resin with diphosphonic and sulfonic acid groups is used for this purpose. Although not yet very thin, these films make possible energy resolutions far better than with any liquid scintillation alpha spectrometry method. Adsorption efficiencies are more than 80% after 20 h exposition to a 100 ml water sample (20 mm × 20 mm sheet). A third step is to have a system that measures radionuclide concentrations in water on-line. A prototype is presented where radionuclides are adsorbed on a film in contact with the water. A Si-detector placed on the other side of the film support counts the alphas passing through.