Laser optogalvanic detection of airborne uranium particles

Laser optogalvanic spectrometry (LOGS) is being developed at the Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory (DIAL) to measure the concentration of uranium present in the off-gases of mixed hazardous waste thermal-treatment systems, where metal species occur as airborne metal oxide and/or metallic particles rather than as free, single atoms. Limits of detection for uranium and selected volatile, toxic trace metal particles are reported. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using LOGS to detect uranium in off-gases at concentrations significantly lower than can currently be achieved using other real-time, on-line technologies, such as radioactive disintegration counting methods or air inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (air ICP-AES).