Development of a pH titration method for the simultaneous determination ofuranium, nitrate and free-acid in the feed solution of the sol-gel processof nuclear fuel fabrication

pH titration curves generated by slow addition of alkali to solutions conta ining varying concentrations of uranyl nitrate and nitric acid were studied using an autotitrator linked to a personal computer. A procedure with mult iple choice of equations has been developed for the estimation of free acid , nitrate and uranium in pure uranyl nitrate solution by a single titration . The technique provides a simple single-step method with required accuracy and precision for the simultaneous estimation of the three quantities in t he uranyl nitrate feed solution of the sol-gel process for making UO3 micro spheres. The relative standard deviations in the determination of uranium a nd nitrate were +/-0.82% and +/-1.52%, respectively, in 15 determinations.