Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for determination of uranium in thorium-uranium mixed oxide fuel materials

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been developed for determining the percentage of uranium in thorium-uranium mixed oxide fuel samples required as a part of the chemical quality assurance of fuel materials. The experimental parameters were optimized using mixed oxide pellets prepared from 1:1 (w/w) mixture of thorium-uranium mixed oxide standards and using boric acid as a binder. Calibration curves were established using U(II) 263.553 nm, U(II) 367.007 nm, U(II) 447.233 nm and U(II) 454.363 nm emission lines. The uranium amount determined in two synthetic mixed oxide samples using calibration curves agreed well with that of the expected values. Except for U(II) 263.553 nm, all the other emission lines exhibited a saturation effect due to self-absorption when U amount exceeded 20 wt.% in the Th-U mixture. The present method will be useful for fast and routine determination of uranium in mixed oxide samples of Th and U, without the need for dissolution, which is difficult and time consuming due to the refractory nature of ThO(2). The methodology developed is encouraging since a very good analytical agreement was obtained considering the limited resolution of the spectrometer employed in the work.