A simple method for the determination of natural uranium and 226Ra in waters and soils

A procedure for the determination of natural uranium and 226Ra in waters and soils has been carried out and applied to the analysis of samples for environmental radiological monitoring. 226Ra determination consists of co-precipitation with BaSO4, 222Rn emanation in toluene and finally liquid scintillation counting. Natural uranium is then determined by a fluorometric technique. This paper describes the method and the conditions that were tested to optimize it. The technique was found to be suitable for the analysis of surface and ground waters, samples from rivers, streams and lakes and soil samples, because of its few steps, short processing time, high recovery percentages and suitable detection limits. (author). 5 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab