Long-term distribution of 239-Pu, 241-Am,and 233-U in the various bones of the skeleton of adult rats

Conclusions The macrodistribution of the bone surface seekers plutonium and americium and of the bone volume seeker uranium has been analysed in different bones of the skeleton of adult male and female rats under identical laboratory conditions. Whereas the relative concentration differs in a wide range between the different bones and the different nuclides there is the general tendency with time to reach a mean concentration for the whole skeleton. Whereas the retention of 239-Pu and 241-Am is similar in the skeleton with a biological half-life of more than 1 year, 233-U shows a rapid decrease of the nuclide content with a biological half-life of 80 days in male and 140 days in female rats, respectively.