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PubMed2006

Oxidation of gas-phase protactinium ions, Pa+ and Pa2+: formation and properties of PaO2(2+)(g), protactinyl.

Oxidation reactions of bare and ligated, monopositive, and dipositive Pa ions in the gas phase were studied by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Seven oxidants were employed, ranging from the thermodynamically robust N(2)O to the relatively weak CH(2)O-all oxidized Pa(+) to PaO(+) and PaO(+) to PaO(2)(+). On the basis of experimental observations, it was established that D[Pa(+)-O] and D[OPa(+)-O] > or = 751 kJ mol(-1). Estimates for D[Pa(+)-O], D[OPa(+)-O], IE[PaO], and IE[PaO(2)] were also obtained. The seven oxidants reacted with Pa(2+) to produce PaO(2+), indicating that D[Pa(2+)-O] > or = 751 kJ mol(-1). A particularly notable finding was the oxidation of PaO(2+) by N(2)O to PaO(2)(2+), a species, which formally comprises Pa(VI). Collision-induced dissociation of PaO(2)(2+) suggested the protactinyl connectivity, {O-Pa-O}(2+). The experimentally determined IE[PaO(2)(+)] approximately 16.6 eV is in agreement with self-consistent-field and configuration interaction calculations for PaO(2)(+) and PaO(2)(2+). These calculations provide insights into the electronic structures of these ions and indicate the participation of 5f orbitals in bonding and a partial "6p hole" in the case of protactinyl. It was found that PaO(2)(2+) catalyzes the oxidation of CO by N(2)O-such O atom transport via a dipositive metal oxide ion is distinctive. It was also observed that PaO(2)(2+) is capable of activating H(2) to form the stable PaO(2)H(2+) ion.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Melting of the Earth's lithospheric mantle inferred from protactinium-thorium-uranium isotopic data

The processes responsible for the generation of partial melt in the Earth's lithospheric mantle and the movement of this melt to the Earth's surface remain enigmatic, owing to the perceived difficulties in generating large-degree partial melts at depth and in transporting small-degree melts through a static lithosphere. Here we present a method of placing constraints on melting in the lithospheric mantle using 231Pa-235U data obtained from continental basalts in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Combined with 230Th-238U data, the 231Pa-235U data allow us to constrain the source mineralogy and thus the depth of melting of these basalts. Our analysis indicates that it is possible to transport small melt fractions--of the order of 0.1%--through the lithosphere, as might result from the coalescence of melt by compaction owing to melting-induced deformation. The large observed 231Pa excesses require that the timescale of melt generation and transport within the lithosphere is small compared to the half-life of 231Pa (approximately 32.7 kyr). The 231Pa-230Th data also constrain the thorium and uranium distribution coefficients for clinopyroxene in the source regions of these basalts to be within 2% of one another, indicating that in this setting 230Th excesses are not expected during melting at depths shallower than 85 km.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1980

Actinide transport across cell membranes.

Protactinium uptake into the normal liver does not exceed 3%, but when the phospholipid levels in the liver are elevated by administration of thioacetamide this uptake increases to 31%. Phosphatidic acid, which is absent from the normal liver, has been shown to extract protactinium into organic solvents. However, phosphatidylserine, a component of normal liver cell membranes, does not extract protactinium. It might be conjectured that this is why so little protactinium is taken up by the normal liver. The hypothesis is advanced that phosphatidylserine, which is known to complex plutonium, americium and curium, may regulate the uptake of these elements by liver.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Preliminary results on the immobilisation of radionuclides from waters with specific adsorbers based on phosphate salts.

The present paper is focused on the ability of aluminium phosphate (ALPC), magnesium ammonium phosphate (MGPC), magnesium hydrogen phosphate (MGHPC), and calcium hydrogenphosphate (CAHPC), adsorbed onto charcoal, to immobilise actinides by adsorption from natural waters. The objective of this process is to evaluate the environmental pollution due to the actinides. Europium, thorium, protactinium, neptunyl, and uranyl ions were chosen to simulate actinides in the +3, +4, +5 and +6 oxidation state. The adsorbers were tested using natural waters samples. The adsorption trends and capacities were analysed. ALPC and MGPC exhibited a similar behaviour and adsorbed demonstrating that the +5, +4 and +3 actinide ions can be easily immobilised from natural waters and may be successfully used at pH 7-8. MGHPC may be used at a higher pH, whereas CAHPC is effective in the whole pH range. In all cases, thorium, protactinium and europium were strongly

Actinoid Series Elements↗
PubMed2003

Measurement of attogram quantities of 231Pa in dissolved and particulate fractions of seawater by isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectroscopy.

A technique has been developed to quantify ultratrace 231Pa (50-2000 ag; 1 ag = 10(-18) g) concentrations in seawater using isotope-dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). The method is a modification of a process developed by Pickett et al. (Pickett, D. A.; Murrell, M. T.; Williams, R. W. Anal. Chem. 1994, 66, 1044-1049) and extends the technique to very low levels of protactinium. The procedural blank is 16 +/- 15 ag (2sigma), and the ionization efficiency (ions generated/atom loaded) approaches 0.5%. Measurement time is <1 h. The amount of 231Pa needed to produce 231Pa data with an uncertainty of +/-4-12% is 100-1000 ag (approximately 3 x 10(5) to 3 x 10(6) atoms). Replicate measurements made on known standards and seawater samples demonstrate that the analytical precision approximates that expected from counting statistics and that, based on detection limits of 38 and 49 ag, protactinium can be detected in a minimum sample size of surface seawater of approximately 2 L for suspended particulate matter and <0.1 L for filtered (<0.4 microm) seawater, respectively. The concentration of 231Pa (tens of attograms per liter) can be determined with an uncertainty of +/-5-10% (2sigma) for suspended particulate matter filtered from 5 to 10 L of seawater. For the dissolved fraction, 0.5-1 L of seawater yields 231Pa measurements with a precision of 1-10%. Sample size requirements are orders of magnitude less than traditional decay-counting techniques and significantly less than previously reported ICP-MS techniques. Our technique can also be applied to other environmental samples, including cave waters, rivers, and igneous rocks.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Age determination of highly enriched uranium: separation and analysis of 231Pa.

An analytical procedure has been developed for the age determination of highly enriched uranium samples exploiting the mother/daughter pair 235U/231Pa. Protactinium is separated from bulk uranium through highly selective sorption to silica gel and is subsequently quantified using alpha-spectrometry. The method has been validated using uranium standard reference materials of known ages. It affords decontamination factors exceeding 2.5 x 10(7), overall recoveries in the range of 80-85%, and a combined uncertainty below 5%.

Half-Life↗
PubMed2001

An estimation of radiation doses to benthic invertebrates from sediments collected near a Canadian uranium mine.

A new method is described for calculating radiation doses to benthic invertebrates from radionuclide concentrations in freshwater sediment. Both internal and external radiation doses were estimated for all 14 principal radionuclides of the uranium-238 decay series. Sediments were collected from three sites downstream of a uranium mining operation in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Sediments from two sites, located approximately 1.6 and 4.4 km downstream from mining operations, yielded absorbed doses to both larval midges, Chironomus tentans, and adult amphipods, Hyalella azteca, of 59-60 and 19 mGy/year, respectively, compared to 3.2 mGy/year for a nearby control site. External beta radiation from protactinium-234 (234Pa) and alpha radiation from uranium (U) contributed most of the dose at the impacted sites, whereas polonium-210 (210Po) was most important at the control site. If a weighting factor of 20 was employed for the greater biological effect of alpha vs. beta and gamma radiation, then total equivalent doses rose to 540-560 mGy/year at the site closest to uranium operations. Such equivalent doses are above the 360-mGy/year no-observed-effect level for reproductive effects in vertebrates from gamma radiation exposure. Data are not available to determine the effect of such doses on benthic organisms, but they are high enough to warrant concern. Detrimental effects have been observed in H. azteca at similar uranium concentration in laboratory toxicity tests, but it remains unclear whether the radiotoxicity or the chemotoxicity of uranium is responsible for these effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Neanderthal skeleton from Tabun: U-series data by gamma-ray spectrometry.

The Neanderthal hominid Tabun C1, found in Israel by Garrod & Bate, was attributed to either layer B or C of their stratigraphic sequence. We have used gamma-ray spectrometry to determine the 230Th/234U and 231Pa/235U ratios of two bones from this skeleton, the mandible and a femur. The ages calculated from these ratios depend on the uranium uptake history of the bones. Assuming a model of early U (EU) uptake the age of the Tabun C1 mandible is 34+/-5 ka. The EU age of the femur is 19+/-2 ka. The femur may have experienced continuous (linear) U uptake which would give an age of 33+/-4 ka, in agreement with the mandible's EU age, but implies marked inhomogeneity in U uptake history at the site. These new age estimates for the skeleton suggest that it was younger than deposits of layer C. This apparent age is less than those of other Neanderthals found in Israel, and distinctly younger than the ages of the Skhul and Qafzeh burials. This suggests that Neanderthals did not necessarily coexist with the earliest modern humans in the region. All of the more complete Neanderthal fossils from Israel are now dated to the cool period of the last glacial cycle, suggesting that Neanderthals may have arrived in this region as a result of the southward expansion of their habitable range. The young age determined for the Tabun skeleton would suggest that Neanderthals survived as late in the Levant as they did in Europe.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Analysis of the 237Np-233Pa photon spectrum using the full response function method.

A study has been made of X- and gamma-ray emission from 237Np in equilibrium with 233Pa using the full response function method. This analysis process is characterised by photon spectrometry in which the entire spectrum is modelled in a pseudo-empirical way by means of elementary functions describing the total absorption and escape peaks, the Compton diffusion internal and external to the detector and the peaks resulting from detection of internal conversion electrons. This method has been applied to determine the L X-, K X- and gamma-rays emission probabilities in 237Np and 233Pa decay studies.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

A convenient method for discriminating between natural and depleted uranium by gamma-ray spectrometry.

A convenient method for discriminating between natural and depleted uranium reagent was developed by measuring and analyzing the gamma-ray spectra of some reagents with no standard source. The counting rates (R) of photoelectric peaks of gamma-rays from nuclides with the same radioactivity divided by their emission probability (B) are expressed as a function of gamma-ray energy. The radioactivities of 234Th and 234mPa and 21.72 times that of 235U are equal to the radioactivity of 235U in natural uranium. Therefore, the plot of 21.72-fold R/B for 235U should be on a curve fitted to the points for 234Th and 234mPa in natural uranium. Depleted uranium with a 235U isotopic composition of less than 0.68% could be discriminated from natural uranium in the case of a reagent containing 4.0 g of uranium.

Algorithms↗