Cerenkov spectroscopic assay of fission isotopes Pt. 2

A Cerenkov counting technique is presented for radioassay of 106Ru in aqueous solutions containing nitrate, nitric acid, chloride and inactive ruthenium nitrosyl complex carrier. The counting efficiency was found to be a function of colour quenching by these substances in the UV and visible range. Measurements made on a three-channel automatic liquid scintillation spectrometer indicated that the counting efficiency can be calculated by use of the experimentally determined channel ratio of a quenched sample, without prior knowledge of the quencher concentration. The technique can be useful during studies on the removal of 106Ru from nuclear waste solutions. The possibility of determining 106Ru in presence of 90(Sr/Y) was also investigated. (author)