Strontium (Sr) is an element which in the event of a nuclear accident is the one that is most released into the atmosphere. The chemical behaviour of strontium is similar to that of calcium and can accumulate in the soil, in plants and in animals (in bones, especially). It is an element with two main radioisotopes (90Sr and 89Sr) which have an effective biological life that is relatively high for human beings, and due to its fixation in the bones, ends up giving a dose of radiation over many years.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has proposed, among many other things, a method to rapidly detect radioactive Sr in milk in the event of a nuclear emergency or accident. However, applying methods of this type is not valid in routine environmental measurements, in which the detection limits are much lower than in a nuclear emergency. That is why in a study conducted by the Nuclear and Radiological Safety research group of the UPV/EHU's Department of Nuclear Engineering and Fluid Mechanics has obtained the conditions and parameters with which to turn the rapid method proposed by the IAEA into a method that can be used in the radiological monitoring plans incorporated into routine environmental studies.
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