Separation of actinium-227 and its daughter radium-223 from phosphogypsum

A new method for separation and purification of 227 Ac and 223 Ra from phosphogypsum was developed. 227 Ac was leached from phosphogypsum using nitric acid solution (3 mol L −1 ), and purified using Dowex 1 × 8 and Dowex 50wx8 ion exchangers. The maximum separation recovery was about 86%. 223 Ra was separated from the purified 227 Th/ 227 Ac solution using UTEVA resin, while RE resin was used to separate 227 Ac from the mixture. The method can be used in the preparation of a source with an activity concentration of 10 kBq of 227 Ac, by leaching one ton of phosphogypsum containing 11 Bq kg −1 of 227 Ac.