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Qualitative assessment of uranium ore concentrates and related materials using scanning electron microscopy

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Abstract

Several studies have evaluated the morphology of uranium compounds produced under controlled conditions at the laboratory scale, but it is unclear whether the morphological characteristics of these materials persist in commercially produced uranium ore concentrates (UOCs). To assess the morphology in “real-world” UOCs, we qualitatively evaluated the morphological profile of secondary electron images from over 100 commercial UOCs using a previously published lexicon. We observe differences between samples with differing chemical composition and samples with similar chemical composition and differing provenance. This work contextualizes morphology for commercially produced UOCs and will provide a basis for future machine learning efforts.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Mike Sharp and Sarah Roberts for their efforts in sample preparation and pXRD analysis, respectively. This work was performed with support from the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DOD-DTRA) Nuclear Science and Security Summer Internship Program (NS3IP) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Seaborg Institute. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. LLNL-JRNL-833247.

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  1. Nuclear & Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA

    Meena Said, Naomi E. Marks, Zurong Dai & Rachel E. Lindvall

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  1. Meena Said
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  2. Naomi E. Marks
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  4. Rachel E. Lindvall
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Correspondence to Meena Said.

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Said, M., Marks, N.E., Dai, Z. et al. Qualitative assessment of uranium ore concentrates and related materials using scanning electron microscopy. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 5053–5060 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08605-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08605-6

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