Basic characterization of uranium by high-resolution gamma spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract A basic characterization of uranium samples was performed using gamma- and X-ray spectroscopy. The studied uranium samples were eight types of certified reference materials with 235U enrichments in the range of 1–97%, and the measurements were performed over 24 h using a high-resolution and high-purity planar germanium detector. A general peak analysis of the spectrum and the XKα region of the uranium spectra was carried out by using HyperGam and HyperGam-U, respectively. The standard reference sources were used to calibrate the spectroscopy system. To obtain the absolute detection efficiency, an effective solid angle code, EXVol, was run for each sample. Hence, the peak activities and isotopic activities were determined, and then, the total U content and 234U, 235U, and 238U isotopic contents were determined and compared with those of the certified reference values. A new method to determine the model age based on the ratio of the activities of 223Ra and 235U in the sample was studied, and the model age was compared with the known true age. In summary, the present study developed a method for basic characterization of uranium samples by nondestructive gamma-ray spectrometry in 24 h and to obtain information on the sample age.