The Aqueous Chemistry of Polonium and the Practical Application of its Thermochemistry

Susan Brown is a Senior Radiochemist within ANSTO’s Minerals business unit, where she leads the radiochemistry group providing radioanalytical expertise and support to projects. Susan has over 30 years’ experience in the field of radiochemistry and has extensive knowledge and understanding of radioactivity and the radioanalytical techniques used for the measurement of naturally occurring radioactivity (NORM). Additionally, Susan has expertise in the deportment of radioactivity in a wide range of mineral processing circuits, waste management, product quality, regulatory and WHS. Paul Brown is a Chief Geochemist in the Growth and Innovation group of Rio Tinto in Australia. He previously was a Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Sustainability and Industry Research Centre and a Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. He received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Wollongong in Australia.

• 1. Introduction to Polonium2. Physical and Chemical Properties of Polonium3. Chemical Thermodynamics of Polonium4. The pH-Potential Diagram for Polonium5. The Use of pH-Potential Diagrams in Practical Applications6. Conclusions