Selection of simulants for separating radionuclides of transplutonium and rare-earth elements via displacement complexing chromatography with DTPA-based eluents

The paper presents data on selecting curium and americium simulants for the lab-scale development of a displacement complexing chromatography-based separation technique. Being eluted with the eluents based on DTPA and a mixture of DTPA and citric acid, the rare earth element holmium behaves exactly as curium and terbium—as americium. Conversely, the tracer additives of transplutonium radionuclides are a perfect option for rare earth separation studies.