Generation of uranium aerosol with laser ablation to simulate nuclear facilities emission

Nuclear aerosol simulant generated in laboratory plays a unique role for the development of in-situ monitoring technology of nuclear facility emission. To simulate the emission of the trace uranium aerosol, an aerosol generator based on laser ablation was set up and tested experimentally. It is shown that the concentration of aerosol particles has a linear relationship in the range of 36.28 μg/m3 to 277.13 μg/m3 while the laser intensity keeps above 7.6×106 W/cm2 . The aerosol particle size distribution is stable, while the most particles are inhalable particles based on the measurement of an aerosol spectrometer. The composition is verified with a laser induced plasma spectroscopy. Several spectral lines of uranium have been clearly identified. It is demonstrated that aerosols generated based on laser ablation can simulate nuclear facilities emission effectively. The method will be used in further work to develop direct radioactive aerosol monitoring technology.