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Characterization of Uranium Speciation in a Metallic Matrix

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Gini Curran ,
Patrick G. Allen ,
Daniel F. Caputo  and
Ken R. Czerwinski
Gini Curran
Affiliation:
Nuclear Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 24–210, 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139
Patrick G. Allen
Affiliation:
Seaborg Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., PO Box 808, L-231, Livermore, CA 94551
Daniel F. Caputo
Affiliation:
Nuclear Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 24–210, 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139
Ken R. Czerwinski
Affiliation:
Nuclear Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 24–210, 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139
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Abstract

Three metallic slag samples recovered from the site of their inadvertent creation several decades after the fact were sectioned and analyzed to determine uranium speciation to evaluate environmental behavior as well as assess proliferation resistance of the waste form. Uranium concentration in the highly inhomogeneous samples was up to 5% by weight as determined by gamma spectroscopy. Sample sections were milled in a hardened steel ball mill for x-ray absorption spectroscopy analysis (XAS). Powders were digested in a mixture of heated concentrated nitric acid and peroxide and analyzed for elemental content using ICP-AES and ICP-MS. Though elemental content of the samples varied widely, high concentrations of Al were consistently found. Other metals of significance were Ti, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Sn. High Pb concentrations were occasionally found. XAS analysis revealed the samples contained primarily uranyl and another phase identified as a uranium-aluminum melt.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 757: Symposium II – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVI , 2002 , II3.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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