Cu metal based radiotellurium separation from simulated and HEU process streams

Radioiodine interferes significantly in short-lived and low yield fission product detection by radiometric means. A simple method has been developed for removing radiotellurium and its radioiodine daughters from process HEU analyte streams. The method uses metallic copper relying on the electrochemical behavior between Cu and Te to deposit Te on the surface of Cu packed chromatography columns. Method development on stable metal samples exhibited > 93% Te removal from high HCl conditions (> 5 M). The method was applied to processed HEU streams providing > 90% Te removal (examining 129m Te and 132 Te), and providing > 99.9% radioiodine removal (examining 131 I and 132 I).