DISSOLUTION AND ANALYSIS OF YELLOWCAKE COMPONENTS FOR FINGERPRINTING UOC SOURCES
- ORNL
There are a number of chemical and physical parameters that might be used to help elucidate the ore body from which uranium ore concentrate (UOC) was derived. It is the variation in the concentration and isotopic composition of these components that can provide information as to the identity of the ore body from which the UOC was mined and the type of subsequent processing that has been undertaken. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories is surveying ore characteristics of yellowcake samples from known geologic origin. The data sets are being incorporated into a national database to help in sourcing interdicted material, as well as aid in safeguards and nonproliferation activities. Geologic age and attributes from chemical processing are site-specific. Isotopic abundances of lead, neodymium, and strontium provide insight into the provenance of geologic location of ore material. Variations in lead isotopes are due to the radioactive decay of uranium in the ore. Likewise, neodymium isotopic abundances are skewed due to the radiogenic decay of samarium. Rubidium decay similarly alters the isotopic signature of strontium isotopic composition in ores. This paper will discuss the chemical processing of yellowcake performed at ORNL. Variations in lead, neodymium, and strontium isotopic abundances are being analyzed in UOC from two geologic sources. Chemical separation and instrumental protocols will be summarized. The data will be correlated with chemical signatures (such as elemental composition, uranium, carbon, and nitrogen isotopic content) to demonstrate the utility of principal component and cluster analyses to aid in the determination of UOC provenance.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1050278
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: INMM 52nd Annual Meeting, Palm Desert, CA, USA, 20110717, 20110721
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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