Determination of inorganic anions in uranium ore concentrate reference materials

The determination of inorganic anions in uranium ore concentrates (UOCs) can be useful to nuclear forensics in provenancing sample materials. In this international collaborative study, quantitation of inorganic anions (F−, Cl−, Br−, NO3−, PO43− and SO42−) was carried out on three UOCs reference materials from the National Research Council Canada: UCLO-1 (doi.org/10.4224/crm.2020.uclo-1), UCHI-1 (doi.org/10.4224/crm.2020.uchi-1), and UPER-1 (doi.org/10.4224/crm.2020.uper-1). The analytes were extracted by water and characterized by ion chromatography with either conductivity or UV detection. The agreement between the results provided by the laboratories was satisfactory with relative combined standard uncertainties (uc) ranging between 1.6 % and 11 %. Sulfate – an impurity originating from industrial leaching processes – was the most abundant anion with a content ranging from 2000 to 12000 mg/kg. All other anions which could be quantified (i.e. Cl−, Br−, NO3− in UPER-1) were in the 15 to 500 mg/kg range.

PAGLIANO Enea;  KEEGAN Elizabeth;  VARGA Zsolt;  NADEAU Kenny;  MEIJA Juris;  WONG Henri;  VARDANEGA Chris;  WALLENIUS Maria;  MAYER Klaus;  COCHRANE Chris;  EL-JABY Ali;  MESTER Zoltan; 

2023-05-15

Springer Nature

JRC133162

1588-2780 (online),    0236-5731 (print),   

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10967-023-08837-0?utm_source=toc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=toc_10967_332_6&utm_content=etoc_springer_20230514,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC133162,   

10.1007/s10967-023-08837-0 (online),