A simplified determination of uranium in phosphate rock and phosphogypsum by alpha-spectroscopy after its separation by liquid-extraction

Abstract

A relatively rapid, economic and robust procedure is described for the radiometric analysis of uranium in phosphate rock and phosphogypsum. The analysis is performed by alpha spectroscopy after pre-concentration and separation of uranium by liquid-extraction using tributylphosphate (30% TBP in dodecan) and finally its electrodeposition on stainless steel discs. The method has been successfully applied to 0.1 g samples of phosphate rock and phosphogypsum resulting in high-quality spectra for measurement times ≥15 h. The main advantage of the procedure is the use of tracer solution ( 232U) that allows reliable measurements and evaluation of the separation procedure. The separation efficiency of the proposed method has been estimated to be (75 ± 20)%. © 2011 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.