Chemical and structural investigations on uranium oxide-based microparticles as reference materials for analytical measurements
Philip Kegler,Fabien Pointurier,Jörg Rothe,Kathy Dardenne,Tonya Vitova,A. Beck,Simon Hammerich,Shannon Potts,Anne-Laure Fauré,Martina Klinkenberg,Fabian Kreft,Irmgard Niemeyer,Dirk Bosbach,Stefan Neumeier +13 more
TLDR
The first batch of pure U-oxide microparticles produced in Juelich was successfully certified regarding the isotopic composition and the U amount per particle and applied in an international laboratory exercise NUSIMEP-9.Abstract:
The analysis of individual micrometre- and submicrometre-sized particles collected by IAEA’s safeguards inspectors on swipe samples during in-field verification activities requires the implementation of a sustainable quality control system such as suitable microparticulate reference materials. To this end, pure and neodymium-doped uranium oxide-based microparticles utilising an aerosol-based particle production process were prepared. SEM/EDX measurements confirmed the monodispersity of the produced microspheres as well as the incorporation of 15 mol% Nd into the compound particles. The timeline of structural investigations mirror the ongoing alteration of particles being stored under laboratory atmosphere. While results from in-SEM Raman (CEA, DAM) on microparticles after two years storage time point to the formation of U3O8 and a minor fraction of schoepite phase (hydrated UO3), in U L3-edge XAFS after four months storage time and U M4-edge HR-XANES after ten months storage time spectra (INE-Beamline and ACT station @ KIT synchrotron radiation source) mainly U(IV) and U(V), respectively, was observed. These results provide new insight into ageing mechanism of the microparticles after preparation. From these results important conclusions with respect to storage conditions and shelf life of the reference particles can be drawn. The first batch of pure U-oxide microparticles produced in Juelich was successfully certified regarding the isotopic composition and the U amount per particle and applied in an international laboratory exercise NUSIMEP-9.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Structural incorporation of lanthanides (La, Eu, and Lu) into U3O8 as a function of the ionic radius
Shannon K. Potts,Philip Kegler,Giuseppe Modolo,Simon Hammerich,Irmgard Niemeyer,Dirk Bosbach,Steffen Neumeier +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper , mixed lanthanide/uranium oxide microparticles were produced as a first step towards composite reference materials with small amounts of fission products, Pu or Th.
Journal ArticleDOI
Structural incorporation of lanthanides (La, Eu, and Lu) into U_3O_8 as a function of the ionic radius
Shannon K. Potts,Philip Kegler,Giuseppe Modolo,Simon Hammerich,Irmgard Niemeyer,Dirk Bosbach,Steffen Neumeier +6 more
TL;DR: In this article , mixed lanthanide/uranium oxide microparticles were produced as a first step towards composite reference materials with small amounts of fission products, Pu or Th.
Journal ArticleDOI
Hydrothermal synthesis of homogenous and size-controlled uranium-thorium oxide micro-particles for nuclear safeguards
P. Asplanato,W. Zannouh,Anne-Laure Fauré,P. Imbert,Joseph Lautru,M. Cornaton,Nicolas Dacheux,Fabien Pointurier,Nicolas Clavier +8 more
TL;DR: In this article , the same authors used a wet chemistry route to synthesize U3O8-based mixed dioxide micro-particles with controlled spherical morphology and size, up to 5 mol% in thorium and nearly stoichiometric (U,Th)O2 dioxides.
Journal ArticleDOI
New insights into the structural transition from UO2+x to U3O7 by quantitative Raman spectroscopy.
J. M. Elorrieta,A. Milena-Pérez,Jean-François Vigier,Laura J. Bonales,Nieves Rodríguez-Villagra +4 more
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors reported results of XRD and Raman analysis on four powdered samples prepared in order to cover a specific stoichiometry range in UO2+x, i.e. x = 0.24, 0.28 and 0.30.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
ATHENA, ARTEMIS, HEPHAESTUS: data analysis for X-ray absorption spectroscopy using IFEFFIT.
Bruce Ravel,Matthew Newville +1 more
TL;DR: A software package for the analysis of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) data is presented, based on the IFEFFIT library of numerical and XAS algorithms and is written in the Perl programming language using the Perl/Tk graphics toolkit.
Journal ArticleDOI
The role of the 5f valence orbitals of early actinides in chemical bonding
Tonya Vitova,I. Pidchenko,David Fellhauer,Paul S. Bagus,Yves Joly,Tim Pruessmann,S. Bahl,E. González-Robles,J. Rothe,Marcus Altmaier,Melissa A. Denecke,Melissa A. Denecke,Horst Geckeis +12 more
TL;DR: This report envisage that this report of using relative energy differences between the 5fδ/ϕ and 5fπ*/5fσ* orbitals as a qualitative measure of overlap-driven actinyl bond covalency will spark activity, and extend to numerous applications of RIXS and HR-XANES to gain new insights into the electronic structures of the actinide elements.
Journal ArticleDOI
Improved isotopic SIMS measurements of uranium particles for nuclear safeguard purposes
TL;DR: In this paper, the analytical benefit of an alternative in the form of large geometry SIMS (LG-SIMS), which combines high transmission with high mass resolution, was evaluated by comparing results from actual nuclear inspection samples measured on both instruments.
Journal ArticleDOI
The INE-Beamline for actinide science at ANKA
Jörg Rothe,Sergei M. Butorin,Kathy Dardenne,Melissa A. Denecke,Bernhard Kienzler,M. Löble,Volker Metz,A. Seibert,Michael Steppert,Tonya Vitova,Clemens Walther,Horst Geckeis +11 more
TL;DR: The modular beamline design enables sufficient flexibility to adapt sample environments and detection systems to many scientific questions and is accessible for the actinide and radiochemistry community through the ANKA proposal system and the European Union Integrated Infrastructure Initiative ACTINET-I3.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mass spectrometric analysis for nuclear safeguards
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the merits and limitations of presently available mass spectrometric instrumentation for international nuclear material safeguards applications and highlight the need for further improvements in TIMS, ICP-MS and SIMS performance aimed at obtaining more specific and significant isotopic information.