Autoradiographic studies of actinide sorption in groundwater systems

Autoradiography is a convenient and sensitive technique for the study of spacial distributions of alpha radioactive nuclides on slabs of rock or on other planar surfaces. The autoradiographic camera contains an arrangement for placing in firm contact Polaroid sheet film, a plastic scintillator screen, and the radioactive face of the specimen. As an example of the use of the autoradiographic method, a series of sorption experiments were carried out in which synthetic groundwater solutions of americium, neptunium, uranium, and plutonium were contacted with Climax Stock granite under aerated and anoxic conditions at pH 8 to 9. The sorption observed at specific mineral sites was correlated with data on sorption of these actinides on pure minerals