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Title: Uranium in soils integrated demonstration site characterization at Fernald, Ohio. Report of uranium concentrations in soil determined by in situ LA-ICP-AES

Abstract

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry was used for in situ determination of uranium and thorium concentrations in soil at 80 sampling sites in the Sewage Treatment Plant area. This work was performed by the Environmental Technology Development Program of the Ames Laboratory using a completely self-contained mobile laboratory. This laboratory, the mobile demonstration laboratory for environmental screening technologies and the robotic sampling accessory, were designed and constructed by the Ames Laboratory during FY 1992. The instrumentation is capable of analyzing each sample for twenty operator-defined elements simultaneously. Using the MDLEST/RSA, the uranium concentrations in the soil at the 80 sampling sites were found to range from <20 parts-per-million (ppM)(<13.5 pCi/g) to 303 ppM (205 pCi/g). The 95% confidence interval for these field determined values range from 80 to 110 ppM. Bore hole samples from two sites were analyzed. No measurable uranium concentration was detected below the one foot depth. Seven samples taken from sites within an area currently under remediation were analyzed and found to contain uranium concentrations ranging from 101 ppM (68.3 pCi/g) to 788 ppM (532 pCi/g). Soil samples were taken from twelve of the 80 sampling sites in the field, using conventional sampling techniques. These samplesmore » were prepared by microwave digestion, using the wet chemistry capability in the MDLEST, and field analyzed using solution nebulization ICP-AES. The laboratory procedure followed for microwave digestion required the samples to be diluted by a factor of 100. This dilution resulted in uranium intensities too low to be accurately quantitated in the field. Optimization of the instrumentation and sample preparation will make this field capability useful in determining near real-time the soil matrix, and enable the performance of this quality assurance process in the field with greater sensitivity and accuracy.« less

Authors:
; ;  [1]
  1. and others
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
10116627
Report Number(s):
IS-5099
ON: DE94005571; TRN: 94:006406
DOE Contract Number:  
W-7405-ENG-82
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 2 Feb 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; FEED MATERIALS PRODUCTION CENTER; SITE CHARACTERIZATION; URANIUM; RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION; THORIUM; SOILS; CONTAMINATION; HAZARDOUS MATERIALS; SAMPLING; 050400; 540230; 540250; FEED PROCESSING; RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT; SITE RESOURCE AND USE STUDIES

Citation Formats

Baldwin, D, Zamzow, D, and Bajic, S J. Uranium in soils integrated demonstration site characterization at Fernald, Ohio. Report of uranium concentrations in soil determined by in situ LA-ICP-AES. United States: N. p., 1993. Web. doi:10.2172/10116627.
Baldwin, D, Zamzow, D, & Bajic, S J. Uranium in soils integrated demonstration site characterization at Fernald, Ohio. Report of uranium concentrations in soil determined by in situ LA-ICP-AES. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10116627
Baldwin, D, Zamzow, D, and Bajic, S J. 1993. "Uranium in soils integrated demonstration site characterization at Fernald, Ohio. Report of uranium concentrations in soil determined by in situ LA-ICP-AES". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10116627. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10116627.
@article{osti_10116627,
title = {Uranium in soils integrated demonstration site characterization at Fernald, Ohio. Report of uranium concentrations in soil determined by in situ LA-ICP-AES},
author = {Baldwin, D and Zamzow, D and Bajic, S J},
abstractNote = {Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry was used for in situ determination of uranium and thorium concentrations in soil at 80 sampling sites in the Sewage Treatment Plant area. This work was performed by the Environmental Technology Development Program of the Ames Laboratory using a completely self-contained mobile laboratory. This laboratory, the mobile demonstration laboratory for environmental screening technologies and the robotic sampling accessory, were designed and constructed by the Ames Laboratory during FY 1992. The instrumentation is capable of analyzing each sample for twenty operator-defined elements simultaneously. Using the MDLEST/RSA, the uranium concentrations in the soil at the 80 sampling sites were found to range from <20 parts-per-million (ppM)(<13.5 pCi/g) to 303 ppM (205 pCi/g). The 95% confidence interval for these field determined values range from 80 to 110 ppM. Bore hole samples from two sites were analyzed. No measurable uranium concentration was detected below the one foot depth. Seven samples taken from sites within an area currently under remediation were analyzed and found to contain uranium concentrations ranging from 101 ppM (68.3 pCi/g) to 788 ppM (532 pCi/g). Soil samples were taken from twelve of the 80 sampling sites in the field, using conventional sampling techniques. These samples were prepared by microwave digestion, using the wet chemistry capability in the MDLEST, and field analyzed using solution nebulization ICP-AES. The laboratory procedure followed for microwave digestion required the samples to be diluted by a factor of 100. This dilution resulted in uranium intensities too low to be accurately quantitated in the field. Optimization of the instrumentation and sample preparation will make this field capability useful in determining near real-time the soil matrix, and enable the performance of this quality assurance process in the field with greater sensitivity and accuracy.},
doi = {10.2172/10116627},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10116627}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 1993},
month = {Tue Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 1993}
}