Abstract
Two methods have been developed for rapid determination of 89Sr and 90Sr in liquid effluent from nuclear facilities. One is the sequential Cerenkov and liquid scintillation counting. The pure β emitting nuclides, freshly separated from 90Y by 0.05M TTA-Benzene extraction, are first counted for 89Sr Cerenkov radiation, and then recounted for 89Sr and 90Sr by liquid scintillation counting. The other is the simultaneous determination of 89Sr and 90Sr with spill-over method by liquid scintillation counting.
Although ingrowing 90Y may be a main cause of errors in determination of 89Sr, it can be minimized by dual radionuclides counting in Cerenkov and triple radionuclides counting in liquid scintillation. Reasonably accurate results have been obtained for samples having 89Sr/90Sr ratio ranging from 0.05 to 20, if the countings are completed within several hours after chemical separation of 90Y.
