Applications of automated radionuclide separation at the National Physical Laboratory

Rapid, reproducible and cost-effective separation of radionuclides from interferences prior to measurement is a key stage of radioanalytical procedures. Extraction chromatography separations are well established for selective separation of radionuclides for different applications. Automation of these separations has been considered as an approach to further improve reproducibility and reduce manual intervention. In this study, four application areas were explored using the HIDEX Q‑ARE 50 automated separation system: high precision, low‑flow rate lanthanide separation for development of high purity radiopharmaceuticals, separation and pre-concentration of 90 Sr and 226 Ra from high volume environmental samples, tandem separation of 90 Sr for decommissioning applications, and coupling the separator to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for time-resolved monitoring of separations. Across all applications, recoveries with the automated system were generally in agreement with those achieved using vacuum‑box methods. The advantages and limitations of the automated approach are discussed for the different application areas, as well as recommendations for further investigation.