Uranium exploration and technology: Preserving the ''know-how''

At the outset, a brief overview of uranium exploration and techniques may be helpful to understanding the range of applications. Techniques have been developed to provide maximum information at very low cost and with a high degree of reliability. The radioelements uranium, thorium, and potassium, along with total radioactivity, are mapped rapidly by highly sensitive gamma-ray spectrometer instruments mounted in aircraft and flown across the terrain. Areas of increased radioactivity or radioelement concentration may be sampled on the ground and the samples analysed for a selection of appropriate elements. The scale of the final map is closely related to the size of the area covered and the density of data points. The IAEA has played a significant role over the years in the improvement and use of uranium exploration techniques. Meetings have been held on R and D in uranium exploration techniques, and documents published on standards of instrumentation and recommended practice in their use. In the field of gamma-ray spectrometry the Agency, in addition, has developed specifications for the construction and use of calibration facilities for field instruments. It has further prepared a set of reference materials of very high quality for the calibration of laboratory instruments for analysis of geological materials