Chemical speciation correlated with microstructural heterogeneity of interdicted uranium materials
Two uranium powders seized by law enforcement in Victoria, Australia, have been characterized by established nuclear forensic methods in a previously published study. Here, the results of further characterization by a scanning transmission x-ray microscope (STXM) operating in the soft x-ray regime are reported. STXM images are used to estimate the elemental distribution in micrometer-scale particles of each powder, and oxygen K-edge absorption spectra are used to determine the chemical state of uranium. The results of the current study are consistent with the previous analysis; the first powder is found to be a potassium-uranium hydrate, while the second powder is determined to be a mixture of uranium oxides primarily consisting of UO3.
Authors
- Michael W. Mara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3766-9368)
- Joseph I. Pacold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4697-5896)
- M Kristo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6995-6308)
- David K. Shuh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3104-3260)
- Jesse Ward (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5346-4971)
- Danil E. Smiles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0410-5988)
- Tolek Tyliszczak
- Elizabeth Keegan
Institutions
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US)
- Battelle (US)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A Vacuum Surfaces and Films
- Published
- 2025-04-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0004526
- Primary Topic
- Nuclear Materials and Properties
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Nuclear Security Administration
- Basic Energy Sciences