Abstract: Strontium-89, strontium-90, iron-55, iron-59 and nickel-63 are the major radionuclides concerned in liquid effluent of nuclear power plant. In this study, a method for rapid analysis of strontium-89, strontium-90, iron-55, iron-59 and nickel-63 in liquid effluent by four-stage resin column was established. The cation in the sample was enriched by cation exchange resin; and then strontium was separated and purified by strontium resin; iron was separated and purified by TRU resin; nickel was separated and purified by nickel resin. The chemical recovery rate was determined by ICP-OES; radioactive counting rate was determined by LSC; and then the activity concentration of each nuclide in the sample was calculated. Under typical conditions, the amount of sample is 1.0 L, and the measurement time is 30 min, the minimum detectable activity can reach 0.07 Bq/L for strontium-89, 0.05 Bq/L for strontium-90, 0.34 Bq/L for iron-55, 0.11 Bq/L for iron-59, and 0.16 Bq/L for nickel-63.

Key words: liquid effluent, strontium-89,strontium-90,iron-55,iron-59 and nickel-63, combined rapid analysis, separation and enrichment, liquid scintillation counting