Rapid radiochemical analysis of uranium and plutonium in emergency urine samples

A novel method for rapid radioanalytical measurement of uranium and plutonium in 100ml emergency urine samples was developed, through optimized selection of the separation and purification process and a combined measurement with ICP-TOF-MS and alpha spectrometry. The typical analytical time is within 6 h, the recovery rates are more than 80%, and the minimum detection activity concentrations are 3.4 × 10⁻⁴ Bq/L for ²³⁸U and 2.5 × 10⁻³ Bq/L for ²³⁹Pu respectively. The spiked test shows that this method can be used for quantitative evaluation of the activity concentration of ²³⁸U and ²³⁹Pu in urine samples accurately.