Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid as a reagent for the determination of Thorium

2:4:5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid has been successfully used for the determination of thorium. It has been proved to a better reagent for thorium than 2:4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid as it produces quantitative precipitation of thorium at a considerably lower pH value and can separate Th from a number of common elements, such as Ca, Ba, Sr, Zn, Co, Ni, Ti, U, etc. and cerite earths more effectively. Zr and Fe interfere, but iron may be removed by a convenient method. Direct weighing may be applicable for the estimation of thorium within the limites of experimental error,     

Dynamic adsorption properties of Kr and Xe isotopes in charcoal

Some batches of²³³U oxide product obtained from the reprocessing treatment of irradiated thorium rods, called J-rods in our plant, have been found to contain thorium as much as 85% and iron above 5% as impurities. This product has to be purified before sending for fabrication of the fuel. The present purification method consists of the following three steps: (1) preferential dissolution of U₃O₈ as compared to thoria, (2) a novel solvent extraction process, and (3) preferential precipitation of Th as oxalate leaving behind the entire U in the filtrate. Development and application of the present purification method to the above²³³U oxide proxduct are presented in this paper.     

Development of a method for recovery of 233U from thorium oxalate cake in reconversion step of reprocessing of irradiated thorium rods

A method is developed for the selective leaching of ²³³U from a thorium oxalate cake. The leaching capacity of ammonium carbonate and nitric acid have been investigated, showing that (NH₄)₂CO₃ leads to higher recovery. The maximum leaching efficiency is obtained using 0.5% ammonium carbonate, with a minimal thorium pick-up. A uranium recovery of 94% is obtained after three consecutive contact experiments in carbonate media, with minimal thorium uptake in the leachate. This process was applied to an actual plant stream, allowing the reduction of the ²³³U -activity from 5.64 to 0.3 Ci/g of thorium oxalate cake.     

Thorium,uranium and plutonium isotopes in the Arkansas River

Radiochemical measurements of the concentrations of thorium, uranium and plutonium isotopes were carried out for the samples of Arkansas River collected at six locations in the states of Colorado and Oklahoma. The uranium to thorium ratios in the river samples were found to be highly variable and generally much greater than the ratios found in soils and in rainwater. An attempt has been made to determine the apparent²³⁰Th ages (or the times which elapsed since the last major disruption of the radioactive equilibria) from the observed²³⁰Th/²³²Th and²³⁴U/²³²Th ratios in the water samples.     

Development of a reconversion method for uranyl nitrate to oxide in the reconversion step of reprocessing of irradiated fuel

Ammonium uranyl carbonate (AUC) precipitation is developed for the conversion of uranyl nitrate to oxide in the uranium reconversion step of reprocessing of irradiated fuel by the addition of ammonium carbonate salt. Different precipitation conditions of AUC are studied. The solubility of AUC as a function of uranium concentration in the feed at different temperatures using ammonium carbonate salt as precipitant is studied. This study indicates that 95-99.8% of uranium is recovered as AUC by precipitating 5-125 g/l of uranium with loss of uranium (250-10 ppm) in the filtrate by adding ammonium carbonate salt. It is also observed that the solubility of AUC increased as the concentration of uranium decreased. Thermal decomposition is carried out by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) and evolved gas analysis-mass spectrometry (EGA-MS) to find out AUC decomposition and gases evolved during decomposition. Studies are also carried out to characterize AUC by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The data show that AUC obtained by the above conditions is very much consistent with published information.     

Determination of thorium and uranium at the nanogram per gram level in semiconductor potting plastics by neutron activation analysis

A method was developed to determine thorium and uranium in semiconductor potting plastics. The method is based on neutron activation and subsequent radiochemical separation to isolate and permit measurement of the daughter products²³³Pa and²³⁹Np of the induced²³³Th and²³⁹U. These plastics typically contain macro amounts of silicon, bromine and antimony and nanogram per gram amounts of thorium and uranium. The radiochemical method provides the necessary sensitivity and makes it possible to easily attain adequate decontamination of the tiny amounts of²³³Pa and²³⁹Np from the high levels of radioactive bromine and antimony.Deceased     

Boron in natural waters by atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization

Rapid scanning of numerous rock samples when prospecting for uranium and thorium ores can be facilitated by using the shorter-lived nuclides. The samples are activated during short epithermal neutron irradiations and the 20-min activities of ²³⁹U and ²³³Th are observed instrumentally with a small Ge(Li) detector. The detection limits for uranium and thorium are less than 1 ppm and 20 ppm, respectively.     

Preconcentration and recovery of uranium and thorium from Indian monazite sand by using a modified fly ash bed

Adsorption of uranium, as UO₂ ²⁺, and thorium, as Th⁴⁺, has been studied using a modified fly ash bed. Effects of pH and various ions like La³⁺, Fe³⁺, Ce⁴⁺, SiO₃ ^2- etc., have been examined. Synthetic mixtures of UO₂ ²⁺ and Th⁴⁺ in different concentrations were passed through the bed and eluted separately with various selective reagents viz. ammonium carbonate, sodium carbonate and acetic acid-sodium hydroxide buffer. Separations of these elements at ppm level are shown to be very effective. The separation of uranium and thorium in the presence of lanthanides in monazite sand has been studied successfully. In the analysis of monazite sand, the oxalate precipitation has been avoided. The method is simple and of very low cost. The modified fly ash bed can also be used to remove uranium from contaminated water.     

Extraction Preconcentration of Uranium and Thorium Traces in the Analysis of Bottom Sediments by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

A procedure was developed for determining trace amounts of uranium and thorium isotopes in bottom sediments from Lake Baikal. This procedure involves sample decomposition, the coextraction of uranium and thorium with trioctylphosphine oxide, the quantitative back extraction after diluting the extract with caprylic acid, and the ICP MS analysis of the back extract. The procedure was verified by analyzing a BIL-1 Lake Baikal bottom silt standard reference material using the developed procedure and independent methods. The detection limits of abundant uranium and thorium isotopes are restricted by blank measures and equal to 1 × 10^–7 mass %. The detection limits for²³⁴U and ²³⁰Th are 4 × 10^–10 and 6 × 10^–10 mass %, respectively.     

Determination of Traces of Uranium and Thorium in Environmental Matrices by Neutron Activation Analysis

Radioactive elements like ²³²Th and ²³⁸U along with their daughter products, form part of all environmental matrices and are getting transferred to living beings by different pathways, leading to a continuous radiation exposure and need to be monitored. This paper presents an analytical methodology, highlighting the need to separate interfering beta- and gamma-emitters from the analytes, when neutron activation analysis is employed for the determination of traces of uranium and thorium in soil and plant materials. The method has been applied to the soil and plant materials from selected regions of India, along with standard reference materials to verify the validity of the proposed separation scheme. The overall reproducibility of the procedure was 2–10%. The concentration values of uranium and thorium so obtained, have been used to calculate transfer factors from soil to various parts of wheat plant.     

Determination of Uranium and Thorium Isotope Ratios by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Measurement conditions were selected and a procedure was proposed for determining the ²³⁴U/²³⁸U and ²³⁰Th/²³²Th isotope ratios using an ELEMENT single-channel double-focusing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The procedure was tested in analyzing bottom sediments from Lake Baikal with the extraction preconcentration of uranium and thorium. The accuracy of the procedure was verified using certified reference materials and a model solution by comparing the results obtained with the data of spectrometry.     

Feasibility study of <Superscript>233</Superscript>Pa and <Superscript>233</Superscript>U determination in neutron irradiated thorium for future applications in thorium–uranium nuclear fuel cycle

With regard to the use of thorium fuel for future nuclear energy production, two methods of ²³³U assay were studied in neutron irradiated thorium and in a mixture of thorium and uranium. The former was based on gamma-spectrometry determination of the ²³³Pa radionuclide, a precursor of ²³³U. The latter was direct determination of ²³³U by neutron activation analysis with counting of delayed neutrons. The mass of ²³³U determined by both methods is compared with that calculated using Maple9.5 software package.     

Measurements of238U,234U and230Th in impure carbonates for age determination

The carbonate cements of conglomeritic deposits of late Pleistocene age have been leached with 0.2N hydrochloric acid and analyzed radiochemically. The leachate and the residue fractions were separately measured for²³⁸U,²³⁴U and²³⁰Th, using isotope-dilution and alpha-spectrometric techniques. The data are used to estimate the isotopic activities of uranium and thorium in the carbonate phase. These activities give age information for the carbonate cementation. Ages in the range of 185–320·10³ years were obtained for the samples studied.     

The dissolution of ThO<Subscript>2</Subscript>(cr) in carbonate solutions and a granitic groundwater

ThO₂(cr) was dissolved in the solutions containing various carbonate ion concentrations, and the results were compared with thorium solubility in a domestic granitic groundwater having very low ionic strength. The soluble thorium concentration excluding colloids after phase separation increased with increasing carbonate concentration. However, the thorium concentration in the real groundwater was remarkably greater than that in the carbonate-containing solutions with a similar concentration of carbonate and pH condition. This might be attributable to other species as well as Th(OH)₄(aq) and Th(OH)₃(CO₃)⁻. These species form colloids or precipitates, and their concentration can be reduced in the ultra-filtered solution by an aging effect.     

Distribution of uranium in sediment of creek ecosystem

The present study was carried on distribution of uranium isotopes and Thorium in marine sediment from creek of Mumbai Harbour Bay (MHB) using radiochemical separation followed by alpha spectrometry. The activity concentration of uranium and thorium in sediment of MHB has ranged between 1–4 and 1.8–4.5 ppm respectively. The activity ratio of ²³⁴U/²³⁸U in sediment was found close to unity at most of the locations of creek suggesting a conservative behaviour. The observed Th/U ratio (0.9) in comparison to global Th/U ratio (?3.5) in the creek sediment indicates that it receives low radiogenic nature of terronenous input.     

Thorium series disequilibrium and geochemical processes in estuarine sediments of Mandovi river

The measurements of natural radioactivity due to thorium isotopes have been carried out in estuarine sediments of Mandovi river (Goa). The geochemical behaviour of these sediments has been studied by leaching the samples with 5 % ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid at pH 3.0 in order to investigate the processes occurring on the surface of the sediment particles and the distribution of natural thorium in estuarine sediments. The²²⁸Th/²³²Th activity ratios have been found to be in the range of 2.00 to 2.12. This anomaly between²³²Th and²²⁸Th has been attributed to the preferential leaching of²²⁸Ra by water flowing over these sediments. The activities of²²⁸Ra on the surface labile layers of the sediments have also been determined. The²³⁰Th/²³²Th activity ratios have been found to be in the range of 0.94 to 1.04. These ratios are mainly dependent on the precipitation action of²³⁰Th on adjacent sediments.     

Uranium(VI) and Thorium(IV) Adsorption Studies on Chelating Resin Containing Pentaethylenehexamine as a Functional Group

A new chelating resin (glycidyl methacrylate/divinylbenzene/pentaethylenehexamine (GMA/DVB/PEHA)) for uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) has been developed by functionalizing GMA/DVB with PEHA. The adsorption of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions onto the functionalized GMA/DVB/PEHA were investigated as a function of pH value, contact time, and temperature using batch adsorption technique. The results showed that U(VI) and Th(IV) adsorption onto GMA/DVB/PEHA was strongly dependent on pH. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption process achieved equilibrium within 15 and 90 minutes for Th(IV) and U(VI), respectively, and followed a pseudo-second-order rate equation. The isothermal data correlated with the Langmuir model better than the Freundlich model. Thermodynamic data indicated the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the process. The maximum adsorption capacity of U(VI) and Th(IV) were found to be 114 and 78 mg/g, respectively. Quantitative recovery of uranium and thorium were achieved by desorbing the loaded GMA/DVB/PEHA with 0.5 M HNO₃      

Neutron activation analysis of thorium after separation of233Th by isotopic ion exchange

The procedure for thorium determination in ammonium diuranate (ADU) and rocks, by neutron activation analysis after chemical separation of²³³Th, is presented. The separation of²³³Th from the interfering radioisotopes is based on the retention of²³³Th by a resin saturated with thorium (isotopic exchange) and on the elution of the interfering radioisotopes by a dilute solution of thorium in 0.5M HCl (ion exchange). The determination limit of thorium in rocks and ADU was found to be 0.56 and 9.3 g, respectively, when a 20% relative standard deviation was assumed as acceptable. The highest value obtained for the determination limit of thorium in uranium compounds, on account of the²³⁴Th activity present, is discussed.From a thesis submitted by C. S. Munita to the Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (CNEN/SP) University of São Paulo, in partial fulfillment for a Doctor of Science's Degree. Work supported by the Brazilian Atomic Energy Commission.     

An experimental study on high-purity uranium refining by passing in succession through pulsed extraction,washing, and stripping columns

Nuclear-purity uranium was refined by passing a solution of uranyl nitrate in 3–5 M HNO₃ in succession through pulsed extraction, washing, and stripping columns for feeding into the U(III)–U(IV) chemical exchange system for uranium isotope separation. The extractant (tri-n-butyl phosphate, TBP), the diluent (kerosene), nitric acid, ammonium carbonate, sodium nitrate, and water were preliminarily refined to chemical purity. The diameter and height of pulsed columns for uranium purification was 25 and 1500 mm, respectively, and the pulse frequency was 1 s^–1. The content of transition metals (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag) and Pb, which can catalyze the U(III) oxidation in acidic aqueous solutions, was reduced to the level lower than 1 ppm (10^–4%). The total purification factor was higher than 103. The purification required 3–4 theoretical plates with HETP of the columns of 35–40 cm.