Microwave assisted rapid and improved radiochemical method for the estimation of uranium in leaf samples

In this paper, we report the development of a rapid and improved radiochemical method assisted by microwave technique for the determination of uranium in leafy samples for use radiological emergency situations, where in the quick assessment of radioactivity is required. About 200 g of fresh garden leaf sample was ashed in a microwave muffle furnace, followed by digestion in a microwave digester and radiochemically separated using UTEVA resin. Counting was performed in a PIPS detector alpha spectrometer after electroplating the separated sample for uranium. By this method, the time of sample processing and analysis was reduced to few hours from about two days and also the radiochemical recovery of uranium has considerably enhanced as compared to conventional methods. (author)