Quantifying Impurity Effects on the Surface Morphology of α-UO.

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Abstract

The morphological effect of impurities on α-U3O8 has been investigated. This study provides the first evidence that impurities will dramatically change nuclear material morphology, and that these changes can be quantified to reveal processing history. Four ele-ments: Ca, Mg, V, and Zr were implemented in the uranyl peroxide synthesis route and studied individually within the α-U3O8. Six total replicates were completed, replicates 1-3 were filtered and washed with Millipore water (18.2 MΩ) to remove any residu-al nitrates. Replicates 4-6 were filtered, but not washed to determine the amount of impurities removed during washing. ICP-MS was employed at key points during the synthesis to quantify incorporation of the impurity. Each sample was characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), and SEM with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). p-XRD was utilized to evaluate any crystallographic changes due to the impurities; HRSEM imagery was analyzed with Morphological Analysis for MAterials (MAMA) software and machine deep learning classification for quantification of the morphology; and SEM-EDS was utilized to locate the impurity within the α-U3O8. All samples were found to be quantifiably distinguishable, further demonstrating the utility of quantitative morphology as a signature for the processing history of nuclear material.