Hydrogen detectability in uranium by U N/sub VI/O/sub IV/ peak shift

A distinct shift in the uranium N/sub VI/O/sub IV/ x-ray line has been observed for several light elements (including hydrogen) bonded to uranium. Elements above beryllium in atomic number can be directly detected from their own x-ray emission lines, whereas hydrogen can only be detected indirectly by secondary effects. This allows for a promising method of detecting hydrogen in materials that have soft x-ray lines from orbitals that are involved in chemical bonding. Other effects, such as crystal orientation, purity of standards, and spectrometer reproducibility, also must be considered; each of these considerations is discussed in detail