Determination of radioactive strontium in seawater

In the procedure of direct isolation from 1 l of the sample, the average recovery of 50% was obtained. In the remaining two procedures, the strontium recovery was about 60% for the Sr column and 65% for anion exchange column. Recovery of yttrium is about 70% for the anion exchange column. It turned out that the procedure with the Sr resin (direct isolation and isolation after precipitation) is simpler and faster in the phase of the isolation on the column in comparison with the procedure with the anion exchanger. The procedure with the anion exchanger, however, enables the simultaneous isolation of yttrium and strontium and rapid determination of 89,90Sr. These procedures were tested by determination of 89,90Sr on liquid scintillation counter and Cherenkov counting in 5 M HNO3. Obtained results showed that activity of 50 mBq l−1 of 89,90Sr and higher can be simultaneously determined.