Applying multivariate statistics to discriminate uranium ore concentrate geolocations using (radio)chemical data in support of nuclear forensic investigations.
J Environ Radioact
; 162-163: 172-181, 2016 Oct.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27267155
ABSTRACT
The application of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to U and Th series gamma spectrometry data provides a discriminatory tool to help determine the provenance of illicitly recovered uranium ore concentrates (UOCs). The PCA is applied to a database of radiometric signatures from 19 historic UOCs from Australia, Canada, and the USA representing many uranium geological deposits. In this study a key process to obtain accurate radiometric data (gamma and alpha) is to digest the U-ores and UOCs using a lithium tetraborate fusion. Six UOCs from the same sample set were analysed 'blind' and compared against the database to identify their geolocation. These UOCs were all accurately linked to their correct geolocations which can aid the forensic laboratory in determining which further analytical techniques should be used to improve the confidence of the particular location.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Environmental Monitoring
/
Uranium
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
J Environ Radioact
Journal subject:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Year:
2016
Document type:
Article