Book Description

Scandium, yttrium, holmium, erbium, thulium ytterbium,and lutetium, at concentrations of 0.01 to 0.1 wt% in uranium-matrix alloys, are determined by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry in a perchloric acid solution of the alloy without separation. The presence of uranium enhances the absorbances of the rare-earth elements and eliminates interferences by other elements. The measurement's relative standard deviation at the 0.1-wt% level is 1%, except for lutetium for which it is 5%. At the 0.01-wt% concentration level, each element except lutetium and yttrium is measured with a relative standard deviation no greater than 3%. For lutetium and yttrium, the relative standard deviations are 10 and 8%, respectively.