226Ra and 228Ra determination in mineral waters—Comparison of methods

A comparison of different radiochemical separation procedures and measurement techniques used to determine the activity concentration of 226Ra and 228Ra in water is made with respect to accuracy, detection limits and turn-around time. Radium-226 activity concentration was determined by the radon emanation technique, alpha-particle and gamma-ray spectrometry. To determine the 228Ra activity concentration, four different techniques were used: low-level liquid scintillation counting, low-level proportional counting, alpha-particle and low-level gamma-ray spectrometry.