Characterization and speciation of depleted uranium in individual soil particles using microanalytical methods

Microanalytical techniques for elemental composition and nuclide-specific analysis have been used to identify the origin and the leachability of depleted uranium particles. The soil particle samples were collected from Kosovo area a few years after the war, the presence of fine particles with depleted uranium as major component was easily identified by EPMA and SIMS. The ultrafine uranium particles were often attached to larger soil particles and contained Ti and Al, being typical components of the penetrator and its cladding. The oxidation state of uranium in the single particles was measured by micro-XANES and found to be in the less soluble form IV while every particle contained a small fraction of mobile uranium VI as well.