Uranium In Soil Samples Research Articles

A study of the concentration of uranium in soil samples was evaluated using the CR_39 detector in the south of Amara Governorate

The quantity of uranium in soil samples taken from various residential, industrial, and agricultural areas in southern Iraq's Southern Omara governorate was evaluated using the neutron activation technique for solid-state nuclear track detectors CR-39. Uranium values in soil samples varied from 0.77 ppm to 1.94 ppm, according to the findings. Soil samples were collected at a depth of 10 cm. The outcomes were compared to publicly available data and found to be within acceptable ranges.

Quantifying of Radioactive Elements in Soil, Water and Plant Samples using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Technique

In this study, the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique was applied to detect radioactive elements on surface soil, plant leaves (Tamarindus indica), and flow water collected from Bala, Mayo-Kebbi Quest, Chad. The survey process indicates that the samples contain radioactive elements U, Fr, Ce, Ac, Cm, Tb, and Pm. The concentrations of the detected elements in samples were determined using the calibration curve method, while the plasma temperatures (Texc) and electron density (Ne) of the detected radioactive elements were calculated from Boltzmann linear plots. Except for uranium, all elements in the soil sample had amounts below the acceptable limit. The concentration of uranium in soil samples ranges from 0.024236 to 0.23439 ppm, with a safety limit of 0.03 ppm. The average plasma temperature Texc for uranium (U) is 700, while the electron density Ne is 500 cm-3 .

The transfer of irradiated uranium from the Irish Sea coast to the terrestrial environment in Cumbria, UK

Abstract Sea-to-land transfer of irradiated uranium in soil samples was measured along a transect from the Cumbrian coast south of the Windscale Sellafield nuclear site in a NE direction across the Cumbrian coastal plain. Soluble uranium components were extracted by ion exchange chromatography and ratios 236U:238U and 235U:238U were measured using multi-collector ICP-MS. The method employed demonstrated the utility of 236U ratio measurements for the determination of irradiated uranium in environmental samples. The results produced for uranium were like those that have been reported for other fission product and nuclear fuel components that have been shown to be marine in origin. Measured 236U levels were highest close to the seashore and decreased rapidly as an exponential function of distance. The results indicated the absence of depleted uranium, such as might result from the deposition of aerosols generated by the testing of DU munitions at the nearby Eskmeals firing range in all but one sample.

Using the ICP-MS method, the concentration of uranium in soil samples from the Northern Basrah governorate was determined

Using the ICP-MS method, the concentration of uranium in soil samples from the Northern Basrah governorate was determined

Using the ICP-MS method, the concentration of uranium in soil samples from the Northern Basrah governorate was determined

In the laboratories of the Zarazma Mineral Studies Company in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, measurements of Uranium content in soil samples were made utilizing ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) in 36 samples of surface soil from selected locations (Some of which, according to the authors, were measured for the first time) in the Northern Basrah governorate. Uranium concentrations were found to range from ( 0.9 ppm ) in Al-Awjan to ( 1.5 ppm ) in Al-Ez River soils. The findings are given and contrasted with those of other research. The soil samples analyzed were uranium less than 100 ppm, which implies an amount of overburden and reserves instead of mineable reserves. The concentration of uranium in the Northern Basrah Governorates is presented and evaluated in this article. The study also indicates that uranium levels in 36 samples of surface soil are below the detection limit. The current findings demonstrate that the uranium contents in the surface soil samples examined were lower than the UNSCEAR-recommended limit of 11.7 ppm.

Measurement of Uranium Concentration in Basrah Soils Using the CR-39 Detector

The amount of uranium in soil samples collected from a variety of residential, industrial, and agricultural sectors in the southern Basrah governorate in southern Iraq was determined using the neutron activation technique for solid-state nuclear track detectors CR-39. According to the findings, uranium concentrations in soil samples ranged from 0.65 ppm to 2.67 ppm. Soil samples were taken from a depth of 15 cm. The results were matched to publicly available data and determined to be within acceptable bounds.

Characterization of uranium in soil samples from a prospective uranium mining in Serule, Botswana for nuclear forensic application

ABSTRACT This study attempts a nuclear forensic characterization of uranium in soil samples from a prospective Serule mine in Botswana. The analysis involves the determination of forensic signatures found in uranium-bearing materials from the mine. These signatures include 232Th activity concentration, isotopic and activity ratios of 232Th/238U and 235U/238U, impurity concentration, rare earth elements (REE), as well as the mineralogy of the area, all of which were determined using both Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and X-ray Florescence (XRF) analytical techniques. Isotopic ratios determined reveal that there is a significant difference in the isotopic concentration, activity concentration of 232Th, 238U, and 235U, as well as the 232Th/238U isotope ratio between the uranium ores from each mine. The REE/chondrite analysis indicates clear patterns, suggesting that it is possible to use this feature as a unique identifier for Serule uranium ore source.

Study of background radiation in soil and water samples from many regions from Al-Fallujah city

The study of the radiological background calculation, by characterizing the radio nuclides and calculating their specific efficacy in the environment of the city of Fallujah (water and surface soil), using the nuclear impact detector technique in the case. Seven samples of water were collected using the system (GBS ). Determine the concentration of uranium accounts based on comparison with standard models were used detector nuclear impact (CR-39) as a method for the detection of uranium in soil samples for study. The specific efficacy rate of the radon-222 antibody was very close to that of other studies. Knowing the level of natural and industrial radioactivity in the environment of the city of Fallujah using appropriate and different nuclear analysis methods and comparing the results of the measurements with the radiation ackground, which was previously studied and proved to be a radiation background. The results of radioactive material from the soil and water samples record the highest rate of uranium concentration in comparison with the standards reference of(ICRP) (International Commission Radiation Protection. The highest of background radiations of those regions were suffering of military operations. The total mean dose rate of the surveyed areas is found to be roughly thrice that of the world average, and found to be higher than that of other places compared with except. The Results of Solid State Nuclear Track Detector (SSNTD) measurements of natural radioactivity using contact autoradiography for the determination of uranium and non-contact autoradiography for radon emanation are presented.

Effect of gender and occupations on uranium concentration in human blood and soil samples collected from Babylon, Iraq

Abstract Uranium concentrations of human blood and soil samples have been studied at different ages and occupations in Babylon, Iraq. The technique of nuclear track detectors CR 39 with nuclear fission track analysis has been used to determine the uranium concentrations in this study. Results have shown that the concentrations of uranium ranged from 0.56 ± 0.06 to 1.24 ± 0.29 ppb with an average of 0.83 ± 0.18 ppb in blood samples. On the other hand, the concentrations of uranium in soil samples ranged from 0.93 ± 0.20 to 2.59 ± 0.15 ppm with an average of 1.72 ± 0.19 ppm. Moreover, the highest averages of concentration have been found in the city center of Babylon, reaching 1.09 ± 0.22 ppb and 2.10 ± 0.23 ppm in blood and soil samples, respectively. The results have further proved that gender and occupations have an effect in increasing the concentrations of uranium. In addition, the concentrations in blood samples are generally lower than the concentration in soil samples.

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.

Effects of Phosphorus Modified Bio-char on Metals in Uranium-Containing Soil

The level of radioactivity in the soil has been increasing unpredictably due to the human uranium mining exploitation of uranium over the past 100 years. Remediation of metals in actual soil confronts many challenges, remaining poorly understood. This study intends to investigate the concentrations and distributions of U, Cd, Zn, Pb, and Cu in soils surrounded by a uranium mill tailing pond. Furthermore, a phosphorus-modified bio-char was prepared in order to determine its role in immobilizing uranium in soil samples. Results show that the contents of U and Pb are much higher than that of the background values, due to the influence of the uranium mill tailing pond. Phosphorus can enhance the immobilization efficiency of U, Cd, Pb, and Cu in soil samples. The concentration of uranium in the leaching supernatant of phosphorus-modified bio-char group is lower than that of control and unmodified bio-char groups due to the fact that the biosorption occurred in the exterior surface of the biomass, which imply that phosphorus-modified bio-char is a potential immobilization material to reduce the leaching rate of metals. These findings can provide references for remediation technology of metals in natural soil.

Determination of uranium and thorium concentrations in thorium ore sample using artificial neural network and comparison with net area peak method

Abstract In order to determine favorable and different elements in soil, the rapid and accurate methods are required. In this research, simultaneous prediction of thorium and uranium in soil samples was performed via gamma spectrometry. Then, the acquired data were analyzed with artificial neural network (ANN) and net area peak (NAP). Natural soil samples obtained from thorium ore consisting of thorium and uranium were used to train models (ANN and NAP). The techniques were evaluated with respect to prediction ability of uranium and thorium concentrations and robustness. Using proposed ANN and NAP methods, the thorium concentration was predicted with mean relative error percentage less than 8.27% and 9.30%, respectively. Also, uranium concentration just was determined with ANN because the NAP method cannot measure uranium concentration. The performance of the neural network model and NAP technique were compared with the acquired empirical data. The results showed that the neural network can more accurately predict the thorium and uranium concentrations in soil samples.

Determination of uranium in soil samples from Al-Fallujah city by using of Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors (CR-39)

The aim of this study is to determination the uranium concentration in soil samples of Al-Fallujah city because these sites were a field of military operations during the war in 2005 , through the collection of 20 soil samples taken from different schools of Al-Fallujah and the depths ( 20-0 ( , ( 40-20( cm for Determine the concentration of uranium accounts based on comparison with standard models were used detector nuclear impact (CR-39) as a method for the detection of uranium in soil samples for study areas .From the results we can found that the concentration of uranium at the depth (0-20) cm were higher at than the depth at (20-40) because of the radioactive content in the soil is located in the surface and this can wind and rain from the removal (90%) of radioactive material from the soil and record the highest rate of uranium concentration in situ (S16) of (2.158) This is compatible with the reality of this region where military operations have seen more than other regions and wide .

Comparison of acid leaching and fusion techniques to determine uranium in soil samples by alpha spectrometry

Dissolution of radionuclides of interest is an indispensable first step in the alpha spectrometric analysis of soil samples. In this study a uranium recovery method for the analysis of uranium isotopes in soil samples is presented. Two different soil sample dissolution techniques were used: digestion in open beaker and fusion. The results of these techniques were compared. Two proficiency test samples and one reference material prepared by the IAEA were analyzed. Better results were obtained by fusion dissolution technique but impurities were higher than with acid leaching. Results of two techniques were more or less similar within the uncertainty limits. The detection limit (a#) was evaluated as part of the quality control.

Determination of isotopic ratios of plutonium and uranium in soil samples by thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Isotopic ratios of plutonium and uranium in soil samples were investigated, in order to understand the level of contamination with plutonium and uranium released at the accident of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. At first, plutonium and uranium were recovered from the standard reference soil/sediment materials by extraction/ion-exchange chromatography, and their isotope compositions were analyzed by TIMS. By applying our analytical technique to soil samples obtained from Fukushima prefecture, a possibility of atmospheric release of nuclear fuel material during the accident of FDNPP was discussed. The contamination with uranium was under detection limit, while that with plutonium was observed.

Analysis of uranium in the insoluble residues after decomposition of soil samples by various techniques

A comparison of different dissolution techniques for determination of uranium in soil samples was made. Conventional wet dissolution with mixtures of HNO3, HClO4 and HF acids, microwave dissolution using HNO3 and HF, and alkaline fusion with Na2CO3 and Na2O2 were evaluated. For testing the effectiveness of the dissolution procedures, two reference materials and six soil samples from the surroundings of a former uranium mine were investigated. It was observed that the content of uranium in the residues determined by INAA represents a significant contribution to its total concentration in the sample, especially in the case of microwave dissolution.

Laser Induced Luminescence Method for the determination of Soluble Uranium in Surface Soil

This paper describes a laser fluorimetric method for determining soluble uranium in soil samples involving measurement of fluorescence in solution without prior separation of matrix and the results are compared with those obtained by the conventional fluorimetric method which involves prior matrix separation. The fertilizer used soil has shown relatively high content of uranium compared to the manure used soil while the non-agriculture soil near to both these types of agriculture soils have shown similar and low content of uranium. The impurities in the soil sample are identified qualitatively by spectrographic method and the identified impurities are quantitatively determined using atomic absorption spectrometric method and the affect of the impurities on the fluorescence of uranium is quantified. Though the impurities considered here are specific to the soil samples, the methodology described for quantification of effect of impurity on fluorescence of uranium is general and is applicable to any other matrix as well.

Bioaccessibility of Uranium in Soil Samples from Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

Adequate assessment of human health risk of uranium contamination at hazardous waste sites, which is an important step in determining the cleanup strategy, is based on bioavailability data. Bioavailability of uranium from contaminated soil has not been properly determined yet. Bioaccessibility is an in vitro conservative estimate of bioavailability and is thus frequently used for site-specific risk assessment. Bioaccessibility of uranium was measured in 33 soil samples from the Port Hope area in Ontario, Canada, by the physiologically based extraction test (PBET). Higher bioaccessibility values in the gastric plus intestinal phase, 48.4% ± 16.8%, than in the gastric phase, 20.8% ± 11.7%, are very probably the result of more efficient extraction of uranium from soil by intestinal fluid rich in carbonate ions. The observed variability of measured bioaccessibility values is discussed in light of the results of scanning electron microscope examination of the soil samples. Uranium bioaccessibility values in both gastric (acidic) and gastric plus intestinal (neutral) phases are higher in soil samples with smaller uranium-bearing particles and lower in samples where the uranium-bearing particles are larger. We postulate that the most important reason for variability of measured bioaccessibility values in Port Hope soil samples may be the difference in particle size of uranium-bearing particles.

The distribution of depleted uranium contamination in Colonie, NY, USA

Uranium oxide particles were dispersed into the environment from a factory in Colonie (NY, USA) by prevailing winds during the 1960s and '70s. Uranium concentrations and isotope ratios from bulk soil samples have been accurately measured using inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS) without the need for analyte separation chemistry. The natural range of uranium concentrations in the Colonie soils has been estimated as 0.7–2.1 μg g − 1 , with a weighted geometric mean of 1.05 μg g − 1 ; the contaminated soil samples comprise uranium up to 500 ± 40 μg g − 1 . A plot of 236U/ 238U against 235U/ 238U isotope ratios describes a mixing line between natural uranium and depleted uranium (DU) in bulk soil samples; scatter from this line can be accounted for by heterogeneity in the DU particulate. The end-member of DU compositions aggregated in these bulk samples comprises (2.05 ± 0.06) × 10 − 3 235U/ 238U, (3.2 ± 0.1) × 10 − 5 236U/ 238U, and (7.1 ± 0.3) × 10 − 6 234U/ 238U. The analytical method is sensitive to as little as 50 ng g − 1 DU mixed with the natural uranium occurring in these soils. The contamination footprint has been mapped northward from site, and at least one third of the uranium in a soil sample from the surface 5 cm, collected 5.1 km NNW of the site, is DU. The distribution of contamination within the surface soil horizon follows a trend of exponential decrease with depth, which can be approximated by a simple diffusion model. Bioturbation by earthworms can account for dispersal of contaminant from the soil surface, in the form of primary uranium oxide particulates, and uranyl species that are adsorbed to organic matter. Considering this distribution, the total mass of uranium contamination emitted from the factory is estimated to be c. 4.8 tonnes.

Measurement of uranium and its isotopes at trace levels in environmental samples using mass spectrometry

Actinides have widely entered the environment as a result of nuclear accidents and atmospheric weapon testing. These radionuclides, especially uranium, are outstanding radioactive pollutants, due to their high radiotoxicity and long half-lives. In addition to this, since depleted uranium (DU) has been used in the Balkan conflict in 1999, there has been a concern about the possible consequences of its use for the people and environment. Therefore, accurate, precise and simple determination methods are necessary in order to evaluate the human dose and the concentration and effects of these nuclides in the environment. The principal isotopes of uranium e.g.235U and 238U are of primordial origin and 234U present in radioactive equilibrium with 238U. 236U occurs in nature at ultra trace concentrations with a 236U: 238U atom ratio of 10−14. Concentrations of uranium in soil samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and isotope ratios of uranium were measured using a thermal ionisation mass spectrometer. Radioactive dis-equilibrium of 234/238U, depletion of 235/238U and significant evidence of 236U/238U were noticed in soil samples.