Determination Of Uranium Concentration Research Articles

Optimization and application of ferrous reduced ammonium vanadate titration method for the determination of uranium content in geological samples

Optimization and application of ferrous reduced ammonium vanadate titration method for the determination of uranium content in geological samples

Determination of Uranium Concentration in Blood Samples of Cigarette and Hookah Smokers by Means of Track Radiography Detecting Daughter and Fission Products

Determination of Uranium Concentration in Blood Samples of Cigarette and Hookah Smokers by Means of Track Radiography Detecting Daughter and Fission Products

Determination of Uranium Concentrations and 234U/238U Isotopic Ratios in Plants and the Groundwater Used in Their Cultivation in an Area with High Background Radiation

The weathering of rocks and soil causes uranium to collect in groundwater. In this article, we attempted to assess the activity concentrations of uranium and 234U/238U isotopic ratios in various groundwater samples and plants obtained from the Ha’il region, Saudi Arabia. The results showed that the concentrations of 238U ranged between 0.08 ± 0.04 and 1.11 ± 0.06 Bq L−1, with an average of 0.67 ± 0.05 Bq L−1. Activity concentrations of 234U ranged between 0.12 ± 0.01 and 2.2 ± 0.8 Bq L−1, with an average of 1.26 ± 0.11 Bq L−1. The international permissible limit of uranium in groundwater is 0.372 Bq L−1. The 234U/238U activity ratios in the collected groundwater samples ranged between 1.5 ± 0.09 and 2.49 ± 1.27 Bq L−1, with an average of 1.95 ± 0.52 Bq L−1. In fruit-bearing trees, the 234U/238U activity ratios were 1.57 ± 0.84, 2.58 ± 1.01, and 2.69 ± 0.95 Bq L−1 for lemon, fig, and narenj. In fruit-bearing shrubs, the 234U/238U activity ratios were 2.37± 0.69 and 2.68 ± 0.69 Bq L−1 for green pepper and eggplant. Our goal is to increase the understanding of the factors that govern uranium’s activity and isotopic composition to better understand its prospective utilization as a tracer in groundwater chemistry and hydrology, as well as the possibility of exploiting this area for irrigation. In this investigation area, the groundwater and plants were unfit for human consumption.

Uranium Concentrations Measurement in the Soil of Wasit Governorate

The aim of this study is to measure the uranium concentrations in soil samples taken from regions situated in Wasit governorate at depth(5-15)cm. The determination of uranium concentration in soil CR-39 Track detector. The nuclear reaction used a source of nuclear fission fragments U 235 92 (n , f) obtained by the bombardment of U 235 92 with thermal neutrons from (Am-Be) source which hasflux of (5 ×103 n cm-2 s-1). Radionuclide( U 235 92 ) was measured to all the zones of the study. The maximum and minimum activity concentration of ( U 235 92 ) were (3.75 ppm and 1.11 ppm) at the zones(A1)and (K5) respectively.

Effect of genetic properties of Khiagda uranium deposits on the choice of in-situ leaching technologies

Hydrogenous uranium deposits of Khiagda ore field have no equal among commercial uranium reserves recovered by the in-situ leaching (ISL) technology. Khiagda JSC carries out ISL of uranium from four uranium deposits in Khiagda field, namely, Khiagda, Vershinnoe, Istochnoe and Kolichkan. As compared to ore occurrences in alluvium in large paleovalleys and in syneclise-type and grabensyncline type artesian basins in Uzbekistan, Southern Kazakhstan, South Australia and in the TransUrals, Khiagda ore field differs by the fact that uranium sources in the catchment area locate at a distance of a few tens of kilometers from the uranium concentration zones in the reducing geochemical barriers. At the Vitim deposits, the zones of uranium removal from the Vitimkan Complex granite by surface water and groundwater and the zones of uranium concentration under the action of syngenetic and epigenetic reducers in the alluvium–proluvium deposits in paleovallyes are very closely spaced at tens and hundreds of meters to a few kilometers. Some other differences include the mostly phosphate rather than oxide and silica composition of uranium minerals and the near-modern age of ore—1.5–12.5 million years. The breakthrough mining technologies are proposed, such as: nonregular accessing of ore bodies with the nonuniform distribution of uranium; use of sodium nitrite as a uranium oxidizer; groundwater resources management in mining of weakly watered deposits; direct determination of uranium content of ore using the method of neutron–neutron logging. These technologies enhance efficiency of ISL. The further research aimed to improve the process designs is proposed to be focused on optimization of ISL borehole patterns as well as on improvement of groundwater resources management in mining weakly watered deposits.

Determination of Uranium concentration in males and females teeth in Samawa city using Lexan Detector

Determination of Uranium concentration in males and females teeth in Samawa city using Lexan Detector

Determination of Uranium Concentration in Blood Samples for Patients with Kidney Failure in Salah din Governorate

Analysis of human biological samples, such as blood, is generally used to verify human exposure to uranium. The uranium content in the blood of patients with kidney disease in Salah al-din governorate was determined using the Fission Track Analysis (FTA) of the detector CR39. Uranium concentrations of blood samples taken from kidney failure patients ranged between 1.636 ppb to7.477 ppb, with a mean value of 5.496 ppb. And the health group values ranged between 0.301 ppb to 2.332 ppb with a mean value 1.089 ppb.

Determination of uranium content in ammonium uranyl carbonate (AUC) and triuranium octoxide (U3O8)

This paper presents a fast and reproducible method for determination of uranium content in ammonium uranyl carbonate (AUC) and U3O8 obtained from it. The effects of high activity and specific chemical composition of the samples were minimized by adapting the radiochemical procedures for analysis of a small amount of samples. Measurements were made by alpha-spectrometry and ICP-MS. The results show that the applied procedures are stable with significant yield and can be successfully used for analysis of AUC and U3O8. Comparison of the data obtained by alpha-spectrometry and by ICP-MS shows that the measured values are in good coincidence.

Determination of Depleted Uranium Concentration and Histopathological Changes in Local Iraqi Fish and Chickens

This study aimed to determine the concentration of depleted uranium and the main histopathological changes in local fish and chickens at a selected Iraqi area suspected to be polluted with uranium. Different locations of Al-Tuwaitha region (Southern of Baghdad) were surveyed randomly to collect a total of 15 samples from each animal species. The animals were sacrificed and dissected at the site of collection. Muscle samples were collected to determine uranium concentrations using nuclear fission track analysis with CR-39 detectors. For histopathological changes, sample tissues from fish (liver, gills, and kidney) and chickens (liver, kidney, and lung) were collected and fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin. The results showed that there was a significant elevation in uranium concentration in both fish and chicken muscles (1.94±0.77 µg/Kg and 2.19±0.82 µg/Kg, respectively) compared with recommended uranium concentration. Histopathological examination showed several effects included congestion and thickening of blood vessels walls, vacuolation, necrosis, fibrosis and inflammatory cells infiltration in most tissue section of collected organs. In conclusion, the uranium residues that found in both fish and chicken meats could raise the concerns about consumption of both animal species that had been bred in Al-Tuwaitha, and could be an indicator of environmental pollution with uranium in this region.

Determination of Uranium Contents in Soil Samples in AL-Hamdaniya Region Using Solid State Nuclear Track Detector CR-39

Uranium is a common radioactive element in Earth’s crust (soil, rock), so it is important there quantity to be under control. The concentration of uranium in soil varies widely, Depending on the geological location, its concentration in the surface soil vary from 0.1 mg.Kg-1 (ppm) to 20 mg.Kg-1 (ppm) with a world average of 2.8 ppm and the allowed limit that equals 11.7 ppm. The uranium concentration, radon activity, radon concentration, in twenty soil samples collected from AL-Hamdaniya region (East of Mosul city) were measured using the sealed-can technique based on the CR-39 SSNTDs. The estimated values for the uranium activity which equal to radon activity at secular equilibrium were found vary between (581.11-1453.5) mBq with mean value 905.89 mBq, the uranium concentration are between (0.313-0.784) ppm with mean value of 0.488 ppm. All values of the samples under the test are below of allowed limit and world average value.

Determination of uranium concentrations for soil of Tigris river and rainwater of Baghdad city

In this study, phosphorescence analysis (KPA) is used for determining soil collected from the Tigris River from Al- Karrada and Bab Al-Sharq in Baghdad and samples were taken from rainwater collected from Al-Rashad, Al-Obeidi, Al-Dora and Al-Sadr City in Baghdad. The measurements were carried out by the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment, in the Radiation Protection Center. The collection, removal and evaporation of the samples ranged from January to the end of March 2018. The results show the presents of concentration of 238U and 235U in soil samples and the rainwater samples. The conclusion of this work is the concentration of uranium in soil samples is more than recommendations by ICRP value of 1.9 μg /l. While all water samples can be compared with the value of WHO, which has a safe limit of 15 μg/l which is considered acceptable.

Tracing of radiocesium extraction from waters and uranium content in liquid samples by particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE)

Newly developed methods for tracing of AMP separation yield of (radio)cesium from water samples, and determination of uranium concentration in liquid samples using the particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique are presented. The limit of detection for Cs in the supernatant and Cs/AMP mass ratio in the precipitate was calculated to be 1.0 mg L−1 and 1.0 mg g−1, respectively. In the case of uranium analysis, the PIXE technique proved to be relatively fast and efficient for determination of uranium content in a few microliter samples down to 10 mBq mL−1 with the precision of about 10%.

Improving Gross Count Gamma-Ray Logging in Uranium Mining With the NGRS Probe

AREVA Mines and the Nuclear Measurement Laboratory of CEA Cadarache are collaborating to improve the sensitivity and precision of uranium concentration measurement by means of gamma-ray logging. The determination of uranium concentration in boreholes is performed with the Natural Gamma Ray Sonde (NGRS) based on a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The total gamma count rate is converted into uranium concentration using a calibration coefficient measured in concrete blocks with known uranium concentration in the AREVA Mines calibration facility located in Bessines, France. Until now, to take into account gamma attenuation in a variety of boreholes diameters, tubing materials, diameters and thicknesses, filling fluid densities, and compositions, a semiempirical formula was used to correct the calibration coefficient measured in Bessines facility. In this paper, we propose to use Monte Carlo simulations to improve gamma attenuation corrections. To this purpose, the NGRS probe and the calibration measurements in the standard concrete blocks have been modeled with Monte Carlo N-Particles (MCNP) computer code. The calibration coefficient determined by simulation 5.3 $\text{s}^{-1}\cdot \text {ppm}_{U}^{-1}$ with 10% accuracy is in good agreement with the one measured in Bessines (and for which no uncertainty was provided), 5.2 $\text{s}^{-1}\cdot \text {ppm}_{U}^{-1}$ . The calculations indicate that the concrete blocks used for measuring the calibration coefficients measured in Bessines are underestimated by about 10%. Based on the validated MCNP model, several parametric studies have been performed. For instance, the rock density and chemical composition proved to have a limited impact on the calibration coefficient. However, gamma self-absorption in uranium leads to a nonlinear relationship between count rate and uranium concentration beyond approximately 1% of uranium weight fraction, the underestimation of the uranium content reaching more than a factor 2.5 for a 50% uranium weight fraction. Parametric studies have also been performed with different tubing materials, diameters, and thicknesses, as well as different borehole filling fluids representative of real measurement conditions, in view to validate gamma attenuation corrections based on the semiempirical formula. In addition, a multilinear analysis approach has been tested to further improve accuracy on uranium concentration determination, leading to only a few percent uncertainties on a large range of configurations.

Improving gross count gamma-ray logging in uranium mining with the NGRS probe

AREVA Mines and the Nuclear Measurement Laboratory of CEA Cadarache are collaborating to improve the sensitivity and precision of uranium concentration measurement by means of gamma ray logging. The determination of uranium concentration in boreholes is performed with the Natural Gamma Ray Sonde (NGRS) based on a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The total gamma count rate is converted into uranium concentration using a calibration coefficient measured in concrete blocks with known uranium concentration in the AREVA Mines calibration facility located in Bessines, France. Until now, to take into account gamma attenuation in a variety of boreholes diameters, tubing materials, diameters and thicknesses, filling fluid densities and compositions, a semi-empirical formula was used to correct the calibration coefficient measured in Bessines facility. In this work, we propose to use Monte Carlo simulations to improve gamma attenuation corrections. To this purpose, the NGRS probe and the calibration measurements in the standard concrete blocks have been modeled with MCNP computer code. The calibration coefficient determined by simulation, 5.3 s-1.ppmU-1 ± 10%, is in good agreement with the one measured in Bessines, 5.2 s-1.ppmU-1. Based on the validated MCNP model, several parametric studies have been performed. For instance, the rock density and chemical composition proved to have a limited impact on the calibration coefficient. However, gamma self-absorption in uranium leads to a nonlinear relationship between count rate and uranium concentration beyond approximately 1% of uranium weight fraction, the underestimation of the uranium content reaching more than a factor 2.5 for a 50 % uranium weight fraction. Next steps will concern parametric studies with different tubing materials, diameters and thicknesses, as well as different borehole filling fluids representative of real measurement conditions.

Investigating Uranium Concentrations in Groundwaters in the State of Idaho Using Kinetic Phosphorescence Analysis and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.

The determination of uranium concentrations in natural water samples is of great interest due to the environmental consequences of this radionuclide. In this study, 380 groundwater samples from various locations within the state of Idaho were analyzed using two different techniques. The first method was Kinetic Phosphorescence Analysis (KPA), which gives the total uranium concentrations in water samples. The second analysis method was inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP- MS). This method determines the total uranium concentration as well as the separate isotope concentrations of uranium. The U/U isotopic ratio was also measured for each sample to confirm that there was no depleted or enriched uranium present. The results were compared and mapped separately from each other. The study also found that in some areas of the state, natural uranium concentrations are relatively high.

Investigation of spectral interference effects on determination of uranium concentration in phosphate ore by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy

Abstract Effects of spectral interferences on determination of the uranium concentration in phosphate ore were investigated by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Eleven high intensity emission lines including four lines recommended by ICP-OES apparatus were chosen to determine the uranium concentration. The ore samples were collected from phosphate acid producing industry in the south of Iran. Three different acid combinations [(HNO3:HCl:HF-2:6:2), (H3PO4:H2SO4:HF-3:3:3), (HNO3:H2O2:HF-4:2:2)] used in microwave digestion method to explore the spectral interference effects in different solvent environments. The results showed that the trusty uranium concentration, obtained in the 367.007 nm, 386.592 nm, 389.036 nm and 409.014 nm by second acid digestion method which were 0.665 ppm, 0.972 ppm, 0.670 ppm and 0.801 ppm, respectively. Although the line of 409.014 nm was reported as the best line for determining of the uranium concentration in several literatures, the results showed that this line has a significant spectral interference with vanadium in some ores which should be considered in determining of the uranium concentration. Spectral interference effects of some elements which have high concentrations in the phosphate ore including Ca, Fe, Mg, Pb, V, Mn, and Ti on the line intensities were also investigated. Results indicated that the chosen elements affect emission intensities of all of 11 lines. They also indicated that the line of 409.014 nm provides a trusty precision in the determination of the uranium concentration in the ore sample with low vanadium concentration (at least, U/V ratio of 1:5). Results show that the line of 409.014 nm provides acceptable precision with some corrections in comparison with other selected lines. For instance in high concentrations of other elements including Fe and Ti in the ore samples, strong influences on the line intensities of the 367.007 nm (by Fe self-absorption), 386.592 nm (by Ti in high concentration), and 389.036 nm (by Fe self-absorption) were considered.

Determination of uranium concentrations and 234U/238U activity ratio in some granitic rock samples by alpha spectrometry: Application of a radiochemical procedure

The present study is an application of a radiochemical procedure using alpha spectrometry technique for determination of uranium isotopes 238 U,234 U, and 235 U on 13 granitic samples. These samples were collected from Gabal Gattar area, Northeastern Desert, Egypt. The collected samples were digested using microwave technique with aqua regia and spiked with 232 U for chemical yield and activity calculation. Separation of uranium isotopes from the samples was done by Dowex 1 × 4 (50–100 mesh) resin followed by source preparation using microprecipitation technique. The concentrations of 238 U were ranged between 28.9 ± 0.9 and 134.8 ± 1.8 Bq/g, and the 234 U concentrations were between 24 ± 0.6 and 147.7 ± 2.2 Bq/g. For the 235 U, the activity concentrations were between 1.3 ± 0.2 and 6.7 ± 1.2 Bq/g. The activity ratio of 234 U/238 U was calculated and varied from 0.80 to 1.30.

Investigation of Jordanian uranium resources in carbonate rocks

Determination of uranium content in Jordanian carbonate rocks has been investigated using three different detection techniques; neutron activation analysis, gamma ray spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The average uranium concentrations from the different methods were in good agreements. A leaching test was also performed using deionized water as a leaching solution (pH = 5.7) and it was calculated that about 9 % of the total uranium amount leached out. The results showed that carbonate rocks at Central Jordan Area contains a promising amount of uranium and more investigations need to be conducted to explore the uranium content in this area.

A study on possible use of Urtica dioica (common nettle) plants as uranium (234U, 238U) contamination bioindicator near phosphogypsum stockpile.

The aim of this study was to determine uranium concentrations in common nettle (Urtica dioica) plants and corresponding soils samples which were collected from the area of phosphogypsum stockpile in Wiślinka (northern Poland). The uranium concentrations in roots depended on its concentrations in soils. Calculated BCF and TF values showed that soils characteristics and air deposition affect uranium absorption and that different uranium species have different affinities to U. dioica plants. The values of 234U/238U activity ratio indicate natural origin of these radioisotopes in analyzed plants. Uranium concentration in plants roots is negatively weakly correlated with distance from phosphogypsum stockpile.

Determination of uranium concentration and speciation in natural granitic groundwater using TRLFS

In this study, the concentration and dominant species of uranium in granitic groundwater sampled from a borehole of an underground research facility were determined using time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS). From the TRLFS measurement and speciation calculation, it was found that uranium mainly exists as Ca2UO2(CO3)3(aq) in all groundwater samples. Uranium concentrations higher than 100 μg/L were found in shallower samples and the cause of this anomaly is discussed. Implications of the results of this work to environmental behavior of uranium in granitic groundwater, is also discussed.