Radiochemical effects of thermal neutron capture in Cr.sub.3: method development

The radiochemical effects of thermal neutron capture in tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptandionato)chromium(III) (Cr(tmhd).sub.3) were investigated. A method was devised to quantify the amount of the induced .sup.51Cr activity recoverable in the original chemical form and to confirm that it is indeed Cr(tmhd).sub.3. The method is based on a combination of chemical separation (column chromatography and recrystallization) and analytical (radio-TLC, HPLC, and gamma spectrometry) techniques. Cr(tmhd).sub.3 samples were irradiated and purified in two steps after irradiation. We found that two of the (three) purification pathways yielded good agreement among final .sup.51Cr activity concentrations. The corresponding samples appeared to be of exceptional radiochemical purity.