The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) solves the nation's toughest engineering and environmental challenges. ERDC develops innovative solutions in civil and military engineering, geospatial sciences, water resources, and environmental sciences for the Army, the Department of Defense, civilian agencies, and our nation's public good. Find out more at www.erdc.usace.army.mil. To search for other technical reports published by ERDC, visit the ERDC online library at http://acwc.sdp.sirsi.net/client/default.

Depleted uranium (DU) armor-penetrating munitions are used on testing and training ranges leading to elevated concentrations of U in range soils. To prevent exposure from secure areas contaminated with DU hotspots, easy and rapid screening methods are needed. This study explores the feasibility of field-portable X-ray fluorescence (FPXRF) spectrometry as a fast screening tool for locating hotspots of DU in the field. Direct comparisons of results were made for U concentrations in the soil obtained using FPXRF spectrometry and measurement of U using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) after acid digestion. The environmental samples included both field-range contaminated soils collected at a munition testing facility and soils spiked with uranium dioxide, uranium trioxide, and uranyl nitrate. Using U concentrations measured with ICP–MS from split samples, FPXRF operating procedures and conditions such as analysis time, soil moisture content, sample amount, and sample packing factors were optimized. Results showed that the FPXRF technique yielded similar U concentrations as ICP–MS measurements after acid digestion in both standard soil (NIST) samples and DU-contaminated range soils. In field-contaminated soils, U values with FPXRF were 88.8% of the measurements with ICP–MS with a significant correlation (R 2: 0.98, n = 8). Sample preparation affected the uranium concentration measurements made with FPXRF in the laboratory and in the field. A loose packing of the samples in the sample containers, higher sample occupancy, and low soil moisture yielded significantly higher U concentrations by 4–5, 15–50, and 43%, respectively. The measured soil U concentrations were not affected by the variation of the sample analysis time. This study suggests that FPXRF is a promising fast screening tool for field DU hotspots as well as detection/location of penetrators in the fields that can increase the ability to rapidly and inexpensively manage DU on ranges and help ensure sustainable use of DU munitions on testing and training ranges.

No abstract

No abstract