To probe the speciation and local structure around the uranium atom in strontium pyrophosphate, time resolved emission and Sr K edge EXAFS study was done. From the photoluminescence data it was observed that uranium was present as uranyl at two different sites. By performing time resolved luminescence, the two uranyl species could be identified. From the EXAFS data it was observed that on doping with uranium, the average Sr-O and Sr-P bond lengths increased. The correlation between the EXAFS and luminescence data confirmed the incorporation of the actinide ion at regular lattice positions of Sr ion in the pyrophosphate matrix. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.