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Undeclared uranium hitches a ride on cobalt exports from Congo, study says
Philippe (left) and Manzuk quantified the amount of uranium that has been exported from the DRC in cobalt shipments or left behind in the environment. (Photo: Joel Hallberg/UW–Madison)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Princeton University have published a study in Nature Communications that calls attention to a blind spot in nuclear nonproliferation: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has exported thousands of metric tons of uranium, and there is no accounting for where it has gone.
In partnership with Lighthouse Reports and the Financial Times, UW–Madison nuclear engineering professor and nuclear security expert Sébastien Philippe and Ryan Manzuk, a geologist and research fellow in Philippe’s group and at Princeton, conducted the study using countrywide mineralization and geochemical data.
J. B. Yang, X. G. Tuo, Z. Li, Y. Cheng, L. Wang, H. H. Wang, B. Cai, M. Z. Liu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 184 | Number 2 | November 2013 | Pages 233-238
Technical Paper | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A22318
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To improve the yield of online prompt gamma neutron activation analysis, the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP) is used to simulate the computation and analysis of the material and thickness of reflectors on both sides of the sample chamber as well as the type and thickness of the neutron-absorbing material in front of the detector. The simulation shows that the optimal thickness of the reflecting material is [approximately]100 mm when heavy water is added on both sides of the sample chamber and the optimal thickness of the neutron-absorbing material is [approximately]50 mm when polyethylene-containing boron is added in front of the detector. The experiment demonstrated that the yield of prompt gamma rays of the main elements in the cement sample increased to some extent.