Abstract
A method is described for the analysis of plutonium in human urine.
The urine sample is wet-ashed with nitric acid and the residue dissolved in hydrochloric acid. Plutonium (IV) is coprecipitated with iron cupferride from this solution and extracted with chloroform. After removal of the iron by liquid extraction, the plutonium is electrodeposited onto a stainless-steel disc with a circular area of deposition of 254 mm2 from M in NH4Cl and 0.01M in oxalic acid electrolyte and alpha counted.
The quantitative electrodeposition of plutonium and removal of the iron by extraction with di-isopropyl ether is discussed. The recovery of 1 to 100 dpm of plutonium from 1.5 1 of urine is 80.7±9% and the analysis time 4 to 5 hours.
