Analysis of Uranium Concentration, and 235U/238U Activity Ratio in Low Grade uranium Ore material by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Gamma Ray Spectrometry Technique

Authors

  • Nassef MH King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Engineering, P.O. Box 80204, 21589,Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority, (NRRA) Cairo, Egypt
  • Khater AM Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority, (NRRA) Cairo, Egypt, King Saud university, Faculty of Science, Physics department, Saudi Arabia

Keywords:

Uranium Ore, 235U/238U Activity Ratio, Gamma ray Spectrometry, ICP-MS

Abstract

In this study, uranium concentrations (ppm) and the natural activity ratios (235U/238U) in 6 representative samples of uranium ore samples were analyzed. The samples were collected from Gattar II ore site, which is located at the Red Sea northeastern desert of Egypt. The samples were measured using HPGe gamma ray detector (non-destructive technique) based on the measurement of the emitted gamma rays of uranium by using the photo peaks 163.33 keV for 235U to avoid the overlapping with 186 keV of 226Ra, and the 1001.03 keV photo peak of 234mPa daughter for 238U concentration respectively. The uranium concentrations of the same analyzed samples were determined using ICP-MS (destructive technique) for comparison. Sharp correlation (R2 =0.9881) was found between uranium concentration measured by non-destructive gamma ray spectrometry and that measured by destructive ICP-MS for the same analyzed samples.

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Published

2017-01-27

How to Cite

Nassef MH, & Khater AM. (2017). Analysis of Uranium Concentration, and 235U/238U Activity Ratio in Low Grade uranium Ore material by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Gamma Ray Spectrometry Technique. International Journal of Life Sciences, 4(4), 461–466. Retrieved from https://ijlsci.in/ls/index.php/home/article/view/1331