Issue 1, 2021
From the journal:

Analyst

Correlating nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry and atom probe tomography analysis of uranium enrichment in metallic nuclear fuel†

Elizabeth Kautz, ORCID logo a   John Cliff,b   Timothy Lach,‡c   Dallas Reillya  and  Arun Devaraj§*d  

* Corresponding authors

a National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA 99354, USA

b Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

c Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

d Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
E-mail: arun.devaraj@pnnl.gov

Abstract

Accurate measurements of 235U enrichment within metallic nuclear fuels are essential for understanding material performance in a neutron irradiation environment, and the origin of secondary phases (e.g. uranium carbides). In this work, we analyse 235U enrichment in matrix and carbide phases in low enriched uranium alloyed with 10 wt% Mo via two chemical imaging modalities—nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) and atom probe tomography (APT). Results from NanoSIMS and APT are compared to understand accuracy and utility of both approaches across length scales. NanoSIMS and APT provide consistent results, with no statistically significant difference between nominal enrichment (19.95 ± 0.14 at% 235U) and that measured for metal matrix and carbide inclusions.

Graphical abstract: Correlating nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry and atom probe tomography analysis of uranium enrichment in metallic nuclear fuel

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/D0AN01831G
Article type
Communication
Submitted
12 Sep 2020
Accepted
30 Oct 2020
First published
02 Nov 2020

Analyst, 2021,146, 69-74

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Correlating nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry and atom probe tomography analysis of uranium enrichment in metallic nuclear fuel

E. Kautz, J. Cliff, T. Lach, D. Reilly and A. Devaraj, Analyst, 2021, 146, 69 DOI: 10.1039/D0AN01831G

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