Abstract
A timesaving and reliable x-ray emission method was developed for the simultaneous determination of plutonium and uranium in refractory oxide mixtures and fused alloys. The measurements of characteristic L alpha lines of uranium and plutonium, with thorium used as an internal standard, were carried out after a fusion of the refractory mixtures in a flux of potassium pyrosulfate. A casting technique, which involves slow cooling of the molten flux mixture, was developed as a substitute for the more lengthy briquetting procedure. For samples of uniform composition, calibration curves and plutonium-to-uranium intensity ratios can be used. In these cases, the relative standard deviation is less than 0.4%. With complex mixtures contnining a high percentage of other elements, thorium is used as an internal standard. A mechanism is also proposed to explain the positive curvature in the intensity ratio values for uranium to thorium and plutonium to thorium. This is due to the autoexcitation phenomena characteristic of uranium and transuranium elements.
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