Rapid determination of (237)Np in soil samples by multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry and gamma spectrometry

A radiochemical procedure is developed for the determination of (237)Np in soil with multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) and gamma-spectrometry. (239)Np (milked from (243)Am) was used as an isotopic tracer for chemical yield determination. The neptunium in the soil is separated by thenoyl-trifluoracetone extraction from 1 M HNO(3) solution after reducing Np to Np(IV) with ferrous sulfamate, and then purified with Dowex 1 × 2 anion exchange resin. (239)Np in the resulting solution is measured with gamma-spectrometry for chemical yield determination while the (237)Np is measured with MC-ICP-MS. Measurement results for soil samples are presented together with those for two reference samples. By comparing the determined value with the reference value of the (237)Np activity concentration, the feasibility of the procedure was validated.