Determination of uranium-238 in solid materials of various compositions by instrumental neutron activation analysis with a radionuclide neutron source based on Cf-252

The possibility of determining the ²³⁸U content in solid samples of various compositions by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) with a radionuclide neutron source based on ²⁵²Cf was shown. The method is verified for aluminosilicate uranium-containing samples in the range from 10 to 300 ppm. The effect of the samples density and macrocomposition on the results of the uranium content determination by the INAA method was shown. Linear gamma radiation attenuation factor and the thermal neutrons interaction macroscopic cross section were calculated for studied samples. The applied approach makes it possible to take into account the influence of the sample's density and macrocomposition and apply INAA for the uranium determination to a wide range of samples with various compositions. (author)