Year
2009
Abstract
Uranium ore concentrate (UOC) is an intermediate product between uranium ore and nuclear reactor fuel and as such can potentially be diverted for use in illegal nuclear operations. To prevent the widespread theft or diversion of UOC it is critical that the source of seized samples of UOC from illicit trafficking incidents can be identified. In this study we have investigated a wide range of UOC samples with the aim of identifying effective nuclear forensic signatures capable of allowing attribution of UOC material to a certain geographical and geological source or a certain mine and identifying the particular chemical process used to produce the concentrate. The samples were sourced from a diversity of geographical regions (within Australia and Canada), different geological types and different processing flowsheets. The parameters investigated include elemental impurities, lead and strontium isotopic ratios, measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the anionic composition (sulphate, phosphate, nitrate and halogens), measured by ion chromatography. This paper focuses on the elemental and anionic content of the UOC samples and presents an assessment on whether these parameters are able to serve as identifiers of a particular mine and/or a particular processing method.