A novel uranium measurement using extraction chromatography separation technique in radioactive minerals exploration

The government of Indonesia plans to build a nuclear power plant (NPP). Prior to building the NPP, it is necessary to analyze the availability of uranium, the primary nuclear fuel, to develop a sustainable supply strategy. One type of uranium deposit in Indonesia is volcanic, associated with alkaline volcanic rocks. In nature, uranium isotopes are combined with other elements. Therefore, a good separation procedure is required to measure uranium concentration in a radioactive mineral exploration sample. We use standard reference material from the International Atomic Energy Agency and three volcanic rocks samples. First, dissolved samples were examined using a microwave digestion system with a mixed ratio of acid (HNO3, HCl, HF, and HClO4) to dissolve the sample. The next process involved separating the sample from its impurities using the extraction chromatography method by passing it into the UTEVA resin column with various flow rates. Furthermore, elution was examined to release the uranium bonds in the chromatography resin using various concentrations of HCl. In addition, uranium isotope concentrations were measured using ICP-MS. Chemical recovery of the proposed uranium measurement technique ranged from 90% to 96%. The proposed uranium measurement technique is useful for studying the existence of uranium that has undergone geochronological disequilibrium, rock weathering processes, and calculating the age of mineralization.