Measurement of the (231)Pa/(235)U ratio for the age determination of uranium materials

The paper describes the age (production date) determination of uranium reference materials using the (231)Pa/(235)U ratio. Direct addition of (237)Np in secular equilibrium with its (233)Pa daughter was chosen instead of the regular milking of (237)Np to avoid possible loss of Pa. Sample preparation...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Varga, Zsolt, Nicholl, Adrian, Hrnecek, Erich, Wallenius, Maria, Mayer, Klaus
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2018
Materias:
Article
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6267122/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30546184
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6247-9
Descripción
Sumario:The paper describes the age (production date) determination of uranium reference materials using the (231)Pa/(235)U ratio. Direct addition of (237)Np in secular equilibrium with its (233)Pa daughter was chosen instead of the regular milking of (237)Np to avoid possible loss of Pa. Sample preparation consists of a fast, one-step procedure. The developed method using ICP-MS for the measurement of (231)Pa is more precise than alpha spectrometry and is applicable for freshly produced low-enriched uranium materials. The measured ages are in good agreement with the reported production dates, thus the (231)Pa/(235)U chronometer can be applied for validation of (230)Th/(234)U in nuclear forensics and safeguards. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10967-018-6247-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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