An automatic uranium analyser based on delayed neutron counting

An automated device for the analysis of uranium is described. The analyser comprises a sample transfer system, a neutron counter, a microprocessor and a teletype. A set of 100 samples, 14 ml of maximum volume, is analysed without manual intervention. The capacity is 45 samples per hour. Using a 10 g sample the detection limit is 0.06 ppm and uranium concentrations of 1 ppm can be determined with a precision of better than ±5%. The only source of systematic error is thorium the sensitivity of thorium being 2.3% of that of uranium. Results for USGS standard rocks are reported and the cost of the analysis is discussed.