A method for determining trace amounts of beryllium in the presence of various anions and cations is described. The method involves use of a Perkin-Elmer Model 503 spectrophotometer equipped with an HGA-2100 graphite furnace. The absorption signal from 20 ng/ml of beryllium varies significantly from acid to acid, and both 5 percent (V/V) nitric acid and 5 percent (V/V) sulfuric acid were studied as possible analysis solvents. Absorption signal enhancement and suppression caused by the presence of other chemicals appears similar in either solvent. Concentrations of more than 0.1M hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid suppress the signal in both solvents. Group II cations, lanthanum, cerium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, aluminum, and silicon, when present in concentrations of 100 ..mu..g/ml, enhance the beryllium signal. The addition of 100 ..mu..g/ml of lanthanum increases the signal over two fold and masks the signal enhancement caused by the other listed elements; however, hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids still interfere. The recovery of 20 ng/ml of beryllium in the presence of 100 ..mu..g/ml of lanthanum and in the presence of 100 ..mu..g/ml each of thirty elements tested is 20 ..mu..g/ml with a relative standard deviation of 4 percent and a range of 19 to 22 ng/ml. The …

Sodium silicate glass microspheres in the 105-125 ..mu..m diameter size range, containing in vitreous solution the radioisotopes plutonium-238 and sodium-22, were prepared in four batches which emitted a nominal 40, 80, 320, and 640 nCi of total alpha radiation and approximately 1 nCi of gamma radiation form the sodium-22 isotope from each sphere. The initial integrity of the glasses was good and no wipeable contamination was detected from the spheres. The alpha particle range in the glass for the 5.5-MeV alpha particle emitted by plutonium-238 was calculated to be 15.2 ..mu..m, based upon radiometric analysis of individual spheres from each batch of product. (auth)

Results are presented of a study aimed at determining the feasibility of using chemical getter beds to scavenge tritium from inert gases. Two types of getter bed, fixed and fluidized, were considered, using cerium as the getter material. Mathematical-modeling results and capital-cost estimates indicate that not only is the gettering approach technically feasible, it could lead to considerable cost savings over catalytic oxidation, the tritium-removal method traditionally used.

Methods for determining trace amounts of beryllium in urine, hair, fingernail, and fecal samples are described. These methods involve use of a Perkin-Elmer Model 503 spectrophotometer equipped with an HGA-2100 graphite furnace. Lanthanum was used as a masking and enhancing agent, and recoveries were determined by direct comparison with aqueous standards. The hair and fingernail samples were degraded readily in a nitric acid-perchloric acid mixture, and the feces were digested rapidly using a ferrous ion, hydrogen peroxide method. The urine samples were run by two methods: (1) direct and (2) coprecipitation. Nanogram-per-gram levels of beryllium were recovered from all tissues and fluids. All recoveries varied from 90 to 110 percent with relative standard deviations of less than 13 percent.