Indirect monitoring of internal exposure in the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant in Spain

The experimental procedure used for the indirect measurement of internal exposure of workers involved in the first step of the decontamination of a nuclear power plant which is being decommissioned is presented. The establishment of decontamination and decommissioning programs is currently in progress at the nuclear power plant and monitoring procedures to assess workers’ exposure have also been implemented. Due to the presence of transuranics, the monitoring program includes the analysis of excreta samples. An analytical method for the determination of plutonium (Pu) and americum (Am) in urine samples was developed. The radiochemical separation is based on the coprecipitation of transuranics and sequential isolation of Pu and Am by anion exchange and extraction chromatography. Finally, electrodeposited sources are prepared and counted by alpha-spectrometry.