Uranium in soils integrated demonstration site characterization at Fernald, Ohio. Report of uranium concentrations in soil determined by in situ LA-ICP-AES
- and others
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.
- Research Organization:
- Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-82
- OSTI ID:
- 10116627
- Report Number(s):
- IS-5099; ON: DE94005571; TRN: 94:006406
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 2 Feb 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
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