Uranium aerosols at a nuclear fuel fabrication plant: Characterization using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

Article history: Received 31 March 2016 Received in revised form 28 February 2017 Accepted 3 March 2017 Available online 6 March 2017 Detailed aerosol knowledge is essential in numerous applications, including risk assessment in nuclear industry. Cascade impactor sampling of uranium aerosols in the breathing zone of nuclear operators was carried out at a nuclear fuel fabrication plant. Collected aerosols were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Imaging revealed remarkable variations in aerosol morphology at the different workshops, and a presence of very large particles (up to≅100 × 50 μm) in the operator breathing zone. Characteristic X-ray analysis showedvarying uraniumweight percentages of aerosols and, frequently, traces of nitrogen, fluorine and iron. The analysis method, in combination with cascade impactor sampling, can be a powerful tool for characterization of aerosols. The uranium aerosol source term for risk assessment in nuclear fuel fabrication appears to be highly complex. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).