International Conference on Nuclear Security 2020

Production of three uranium ore concentrate certified reference materials

Not scheduled

15m

Interactive Content Presentation MORC: Nuclear forensics

Speaker

Mr Kenny Nadeau (NRC Metrology Research Center National Research Council Canada)

Description

Synopsis of the technical paper to be presented at the:

International Atomic Energy Agency International Conference on Nuclear Security: Sustaining and Strengthening Efforts

IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria
10-14 February 2020

Prepared by:

K. Nadeau
Inorganic Chemical Metrology
NRC Metrology Research Center
National Research Council Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Z. Mester
Inorganic Chemical Metrology
NRC Metrology Research Center
National Research Council Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

A. El-Jaby
Directorate of Security and Safeguards
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Synopsis

As part of the Government of Canada’s broader efforts to enhance and expand its nuclear material provenance assessment capabilities, the Inorganic Chemical Metrology (ICM) team of the National Research Council Canada (NRC) was tasked with producing uranium ore concentrate (UOC) certified reference materials (CRM) to support advanced measurement and characterization activities of front-end nuclear fuel cycle materials. Three candidate UOC materials, each with a unique chemical composition profile and ranging in uranium content from 0.80 g/g to 0.85 g/g. Being an industrial material, these UOCs had to be crushed, sieved, dried, homogenized and individually bottled. A representative number of bottles from each CRM have been selected during the bottling process and have been used for the certification campaign. Measurements for the analytes of interest include a) uranium content; b) isotope ratios of U, Sr, Pb, and Nd; c) S, C, H, N, O, and C content; d) isotope deltas of H, C, N, O, and S; e) trace element impurities; f) accelerator mass-spectrometry measurements of 236U, 231Pa, 230Th, and 226Ra, leading to the reported values for 236U/238U and estimates of 231Pa/238U, 230Th/238U, and 226Ra/238U; g) measurements of anions, including chloride, fluoride, nitrate, phosphate, and sulfate; and h) physical characteristics such as particle size, shape, density, colour, and Raman signature. This paper will summarize the analytical procedures that led to the certification of the three UOC materials produced by NRC.