ABSTRACT
The Canadian Forces voluntary uranium testing program is in its 5th year of operation. The program was initiated about 10 years after the 1990 Gulf War. The setup and day-to-day operation of the uranium testing program was an interesting and complicated task. Decisions had to be made on what analytical tests needed to be performed, what type of biological sample to test, and what laboratories would be selected to perform the analyses. A number of analytical techniques are available for the measurement of uranium in test samples. Kinetic phosphorescence analysis is a standard analytical procedure employed in industrial uranium bioassay programs, but the technique only measures total uranium and is not suitable for depleted uranium bioassays. Mass spectroscopy is fast becoming the preferred technique for ultra-trace level metal analysis. A mass spectrometer can be broken down into three basic components the ion source, the mass analyzer, and the ion detector system.
