Versatility of Raman spectroscopy for studies on the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle

Abstract In recent years, Raman spectroscopy has been proven to be a highly versatile characterization technique for nuclear materials research. This sensitive technique possesses, among others, two relevant features that comply with the safety conditions required when handling nuclear materials: its flexibility allows for remote, in situ and ex situ analysis, and its relative ease of use implies small sample quantities and limited effort for sample preparation. In this work, we present the acquisition protocol and data processing necessary for obtaining important information within the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Specifically, we focus on research studies on the advanced characterization of nuclear fuels and the development of hydrometallurgical separation processes. The results described here were obtained by using different nuclear fuels analogs, but the acquisition protocol and data processing described can be applied to the real nuclear fuel cycle. Graphical abstract