The Effects of Various Grades of Graphite Electrodes on the Carrier Distillation of Impurities in U 3 O 8

Abstract

Seven grades of graphite electrodes were evaluated for their effects upon the carrier distillation excitation of impurities in U₃O₈. Two carrier materials, AgCl-LiF (11.1) and Ga₂O₃, were independently investigated using a Wadsworth mount spectrograph and a Quantometer Time resolved spectra for 19 impurities were made by recording the instantaneous response of each impurity in the arc for each type of graphite electrode. Elemental sensitivity comparisons were made from the measured area under each spectral recording.

The analytical precisions of the elements (B, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Si) for each graphite type were determined from replicate analyses of common samples. The comparative precision data show that a selection of a graphite type, which provides the greatest advantages for determining impurities in U₃O₈ with carrier distillation techniques, can be made