chemistry and analysis of radionuclides
TRANSCRIPT
Chemistry and analysis of radionuclides
Jukka Lehto, Xiaolin Hou, Wiley–VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2011, 406 pp,ISBN: 978-3-527-32658-7
Sandor Nagy
Received: 3 September 2011 / Published online: 23 September 2011
� Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, Hungary 2011
The book is the result of the concerted effort of Professor
Lehto of the Laboratory of Radiochemistry at the Depart-
ment of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Finland; as well
as of Dr. Hou of Risø National Laboratory, Technical
University of Denmark, Roskilde, Denmark.
The volume fits a series of related titles from the same
publisher starting with Lieser’s Nuclear and Radiochem-
istry (2001), continuing with Prussin’s Nuclear Physics for
Applications (2007), and completed with Radiochemistry
in the Environment edited by Atwood (2010) and Nuclear
Materials edited by Lambert (2011).
Being a chemist myself, I can appreciate the text printed
on the back cover of the book:
Written by chemists for chemists, this is a compre-
hensive guide to the important radionuclides as well
as techniques for their separation and analysis. It
introduces readers to the important laboratory tech-
niques and methodologies in the field, providing
practical instructions on how to handle nuclear waste
and radioactivity in the environment.
Having read the book, I can also testify that the above
statements are true. The book is easily understood (as far as
I can judge) by chemists who know little about the nuclear
aspects of chemistry, but the explanations are kept short
(but clear) so that chemists familiar with nuclear basics will
not become bored or impatient because of unnecessary
details.
The structure of the book can be best judged by the
short version of the detailed Contents that is 4 levels deep.
The numbers in parentheses below indicate the total
number of pages of the given chapter/part:
Contents (11)
Preface (2)
1. Radionuclides and their radiometric measurement
(24)
2. Special features of the chemistry of radionuclides and
their separation (10)
3. Factors affecting chemical forms of radionuclides in
aqueous solutions (20)
4. Separation methods (24)
5. Yield determinations and counting source prepara-
tion (10)
6. Radiochemistry of the alkali metals (8)
7. Radiochemistry of the alkaline earth metals (24)
8. Radiochemistry of the 3d-transition metals (16)
9. Radiochemistry of the 4d-transition metals (24)
10. Radiochemistry of the lanthanides (12)
11. Radiochemistry of the halogens (18)
12. Radiochemistry of the noble gases (8)
13. Radiochemistry of tritium and radiocarbon (16)
14. Radiochemistry of lead, polonium, tin, and selenium(22)
15. Radiochemistry of the actinides (72)
16. Speciation analysis (26)
17. Measurement of radionuclides by mass spectrometry
(24)
18. Sampling and sample pretreatment for the determi-
nation of radionuclides (30)
19. Chemical changes induced by radioactive decay (6)
Index (10)
Note that the book includes a voluminous Index that will
be appreciated by most readers.
You can easily calculate from the page numbers that
almost 60% of the book (and 10 out of its 19 chapters) is
S. Nagy (&)
Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry, ELTE, Budapest, Hungary
e-mail: [email protected]
123
J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2012) 292:465–466
DOI 10.1007/s10967-011-1433-z
devoted to the radiochemistry of various groups of ele-
ments. The largest share is that of the actinides (p. 72),
which is partly explained by the importance of heavy
actinides in radioactive waste.
The Chemistry and Analysis of Radionuclides is not
your ‘‘Now-I-understand-it-but-how-shell-I-do-it?’’ type of
book: it is kind of a standalone volume full with practical
tips. It contains an amazing amount of information about
the radiochemistry of the discussed elements/nuclides both
well-explained and well-organized. It will best serve those
readers who actually want to do some radiochemistry in the
lab.
So if you have chosen this book because of its promising
subtitle ‘‘Laboratory Techniques and Methodology’’ you
will not be disappointed.
466 S. Nagy
123