Chemical separation of 146 Sm for half-life determination

Although methods for the chemical separation of samarium from a rock matrix are well established, chemical separation of samarium from non-natural isotopic impurities for the purpose of 146 Sm half-life measurement requires modifications to these procedures, as well as additional checks for effective separation. This work describes the chemical purification procedures associated with the 146 Sm source and the results from gamma spectroscopy. The purification procedure allowed for the quantitative determination of the number of 146 Sm atoms using a modified isotope dilution technique. Alpha-decay counting of the sample will be applied in the future to determine the half-life of 146 Sm.