Development and improvement of radiochemical separation schemes for actinide determination using AMS

The determination of minute amounts of actinides in a huge variety of sample matrices is a challenging task. The current capabilities of state-of-the-art accelerator mass spectrometers enable detection limits close to a few hundred atoms per sample. However, proper sample preparation is inevitable to separate the element of interest from the overwhelming majority of the sample mass. Here, we present some of our current activities regarding the optimization of work-up procedures for different actinides (i.e. Pa, Np, Pu, Am, Cm) from environmental samples like water, soil, deep sea ferromanganese crusts and lunar
regolith.