A review of uranium (U) elemental detection methods

Abstract

With the increasing demand for energy, nuclear energy has been developing rapidly. Quantitative detection and qualitative identification of uranium (U) are of great significance for the comprehensive and efficient use of U resources and the control of nuclear and radioactive substances. In this study, the detection of U is divided into liquid sample detection, solid sample detection, gas sample detection, industrial detection from the perspectives of sample state and detection environment. For liquid samples, the advantages and disadvantages of various detection methods are summarized. The applications of different detection methods in different samples are also analyzed. For solid samples, the applications of Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence in powder compaction and U-containing solid samples are presented. The problems of low instrumental resolution as well as poor accuracy of quantitative analyses are discussed, and methods to solve the above problems are proposed. For gas samples, UF6 can be analyzed for U isotopes using Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. U abundance (235U/(235U + 238U)) is obtained quickly, directly and without sample preparation. Finally, the application of remote detection and in situ detection techniques in industrial detection of U is also discussed in this study. In the future, rapid, high-precision and portable U detection methods can be developed by coupling multiple detection methods to meet the needs in different scenarios.