Development of a rapid procedure for the measurement of uranium in drinking water by PERALS® spectrometry

A novel procedure was developed for the determination of uranium alpha-activity in drinking water by preconcentration and selective extraction of the uranium from a solution of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid into an extractive scintillator containing bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid, followed by alpha-activity counting using PERALS (photon/electron rejecting alpha liquid scintillation) spectrometry. Less than 0.5 per cent of some other alpha-emitters (americium-241, plutonium-238, polonium-210, radium-226 and thorium-230) were extracted using the procedure. There were several advantages as compared with the EPA and ASTM standard test methods, including speed and simplicity.