Analysis of HEU samples from the ULBA Metallurgical Plant

In early March 1994, eight highly enriched uranium (HEU) samples were collected from materials stored at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskamen (Ust Kamenogorsk), Kazakhstan. While at the plant site, portions of four samples were dissolved and analyzed by mass spectrograph at the Ulba analytical laboratory by Ulba analysts. Three of these mass spectrograph solutions and the eight HEU samples were subsequently delivered to the Y-12 Plant for complete chemical and isotopic analyses. Chemical forms of the eight samples were uranium metal chips, U0{sub 2} powder, uranium/beryllium oxide powder, and uranium/beryllium alloy rods. All were declared by the Ulba plant to have a uranium assay of {approximately}90 wt % {sup 235}U. The uranium/beryllium powder and alloy samples were also declared to range from about 8 to 28 wt % uranium. The chemical and uranium isotopic analyses done at the Y-12 Plant confirm the Ulba plant declarations. All samples appear to have been enriched using some reprocessed uranium, probably from recovery of uranium from plutonium production reactors. As a result, all samples contain some {sup 236}U and {sup 232}U and have small but measurable quantities of plutonium. This plutonium could be the result of either contamination carried over from the enrichment process or cross-contamination from weapons material. It is not the result of direct reactor exposure. Neither the {sup 232}U nor the plutonium concentrations are sufficiently high to provide a significant industrial health hazard. Both are well within established or proposed acceptance criteria for storage at Y-12. The trace metal analyses showed that, with the exception of beryllium, there are no trace metals in any of these HEU samples that pose a significant health hazard