Determination by ICP-MS of uranium isotopic ratios in drinking water in the vicinity of nuclear power plants

Objective To ascertain the uranium isotopic ratios in surface water samples around nuclear power plants.Methods Water samples were collected in Jiangsu,Shandong and Zhejiang provinces.An efficient separation procedure for the trace uranium concentrated from surface water by tributyl phosphate (TBP) was used.Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied to determination of low abundance uranium isotopes.Results The 234 U/238 U isotope ratio varied from 4.575 × 10-5to 7.752 × 10-5 and 235U/238U from 7.273 × 10-3 to 7.639 × 10-3.Conclusions The 234U is enriched in the surface water. Key words: Uranium;  Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry;  Isotope ratios; Surface water