Comparing results of X-ray diffraction, µ-Raman spectroscopy and neutron diffraction when identifying chemical phases in seized nuclear material, during a comparative nuclear forensics exercise

Abstract
This work presents the results for identification of chemical phases obtained by several laboratories as a part of an international nuclear forensic round-robin exercise. In this work powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD) is regarded as the reference technique. Neutron diffraction produced a superior high-angle diffraction pattern relative to p-XRD. Requiring only small amounts of sample, µ-Raman spectroscopy was used for the first time in this context as a potentially complementary technique to p-XRD. The chemical phases were identified as pure UO2 in two materials, and as a mixture of UO2, U3O8 and an intermediate species U3O7 in the third material. © The Author(s) 2018. This article is an open access publication.
Description
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
X-ray diffraction, Neutron diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Nuclear forensics, Uranium oxides, Comparative evaluations
Citation
Rondahl, S. H., Pointurier, F., Ahlinder, L., Ramebäck, H., Marie, O., Ravat, B., Delauney, F., Young, E. L., Blagojevic, N., Hester, J. R., Thorogood, G. J., Nelwamondo, A. N., Ntsoane, T. P., Roberts, S. K. & Holliday, K. S. (2018). Comparing results of X-ray diffraction, µ-Raman spectroscopy and neutron diffraction when identifying chemical phases in seized nuclear material, during a comparative nuclear forensics exercise. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 315(2), 395-408. doi:10.1007/s10967-017-5666-3
Collections