Behavior and Mobility of U Series Radionuclides during Gibbsite Processing, Abu Thor Locality, Sinai, Egypt

Abstract Gamma spectrometry was employed to measure the natural activity of radionuclides using High purity germanium detector during the leaching of gibbsite sample from Abu Thor locality using three different organic agents. Among these agents, EDTA exhibited the lowest leaching efficiency for 238 U, approximately 21%, while oxalic and citric acids achieved efficiencies of 42.77% and 32.44%, respectively. The leaching process revealed that the leaching efficiency of 234 U and 232 Th were higher than that of 238 U, 230 Th, and 235 U. Additionally, the radionuclides 226 Ra, 214 Pb, and 214 Bi were predominantly found in the residue of the three organic agents. The oxalic acid residual sample shows the highest ratios for 230 Th/ 238 U, 226 Ra/ 238 U, and 226 Ra/ 230 Th ratios, all exceeding 1, with values of 1.33, 1.6, and 1.22, respectively. Therefore, the 226 Ra/ 238 U ratio is deemed superior for studying the behavior and mobility of U.