Developing 226Ra and 227Ac age-dating techniques for nuclear forensics to gain insight from concordant and non-concordant radiochronometers

Kayzar, Theresa M.; Williams, Ross W.

doi:10.1007/s10967-015-4435-4

Title: Developing ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁷Ac age-dating techniques for nuclear forensics to gain insight from concordant and non-concordant radiochronometers

Journal Article · Sat Sep 26 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4435-4· OSTI ID:1241985

Kayzar, Theresa M. ^[1]; Williams, Ross W. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division

The model age or ‘date of purification’ of a nuclear material is an important nuclear forensic signature. In this study, chemical separation and MC-ICP-MS measurement techniques were developed for ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁷Ac: grand-daughter nuclides in the ²³⁸U and ²³⁵U decay chains respectively. The ²³⁰Th-²³⁴U, ²²⁶Ra-²³⁸U, ²³¹Pa-²³⁵U, and ²²⁷Ac-²³⁵U radiochronometers were used to calculate model ages for CRM-U100 standard reference material and two highly-enriched pieces of uranium metal from the International Technical Working Group Round Robin 3 Exercise. In conclusion, the results demonstrate the accuracy of the ²²⁶Ra-²³⁸U and ²²⁷Ac-²³⁵U chronometers and provide information about nuclide migration during uranium processing.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1241985

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-669502; TRN: US1600477

Journal Information:: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 307, Issue 3; ISSN 0236-5731

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 19 works

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The application of radiochronometry during the 4th collaborative materials exercise of the nuclear forensics international technical working group (ITWG) Kristo, Michael J.; Williams, Ross; Gaffney, Amy M. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 315, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5680-5	journal	February 2018
Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to UF6 cylinders Rolison, John M.; Williams, Ross W. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 317, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-5955-5	journal	June 2018
Improved protactinium spike calibration method applied to 231Pa–235U age-dating of certified reference materials for nuclear forensics Treinen, Kerri C.; Gaffney, Amy M.; Rolison, John M. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 318, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6149-x	journal	August 2018
An interlaboratory collaboration to determine consensus 231Pa/235U model ages of a uranium certified reference material for nuclear forensics Kayzar-Boggs, Theresa M.; Treinen, Kerri C.; Okubo, Ayako Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 323, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07030-x	journal	February 2020
A case study in plutonium radiochronometry using multiple isotope systems Gaffney, Amy M.; Wimpenny, Josh B. N.; Parsons-Davis, Tashi Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 318, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6131-7	journal	August 2018
Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to uranium certified reference materials Rolison, John M.; Treinen, Kerri C.; McHugh, Kelly C. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 314, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5619-x	journal	November 2017
Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and materials Carter, Simon; Fisher, Andy; Gibson, Bridget Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Vol. 32, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ja90046e	journal	January 2017
Evaluating uranium radiochronometry by single-collector mass spectrometry for nuclear forensics: a multi-instrument investigation Treinen, Kerri C.; Samperton, Kyle M.; Lindvall, Rachel E. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 322, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06832-y	journal	October 2019
Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and materials Carter, Simon; Clough, Robert; Fisher, Andy Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Vol. 33, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja90039f	journal	January 2018
Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and materials Carter, Simon; Clough, Robert; Fisher, Andy Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Vol. 35, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ja90067b	journal	January 2020
Atomic spectrometry update. Review of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and materials Carter, Simon; Fisher, Andy S.; Hinds, Michael W. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Vol. 28, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ja90051g	journal	January 2013

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Title: Developing 226Ra and 227Ac age-dating techniques for nuclear forensics to gain insight from concordant and non-concordant radiochronometers

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