Chemical similarities between U(VI) and Mo(VI) create challenges for separation and quantification of uranium from a mixed fission product sample. The purpose of this work was to demonstrate the feasibility of using Eichrom’s® UTEVA resin in addition to a tellurium spontaneous deposition to improve the quantitation of 235U using gamma spectroscopy. The optimized method demonstrated a consistent chemical yield of 74 ± 3 % for uranium. This procedure was evaluated using 1.41x1012 fissions produced from an irradiated HEU sample. The uranium was isotopically yielded by HPGe, and the minimum detectable activity (MDA) determined from the gamma spectra. The MDA for 235U, 237U, and 238U was reduced by a factor of two. The chemical isolation of uranium was successfully achieved in less than four hours, with a separation factor of 1.41x105 from molybdenum.
Revised: March 24, 2016 |
Published: March 9, 2016
Citation
Haney M.M., B.N. Seiner, E.C. Finn, and J.I. Friese. 2016.RAPID QUANTITATION OF URANIUM FROM MIXED FISSION PRODUCT SAMPLES.Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 307, no. 3:1737-1742.PNNL-SA-109446.doi:10.1007/s10967-015-4617-0