Uncovering Uranium Isotopic Heterogeneity of Fuel Pellets from the Fifth Collaborative Materials Exercise of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group
- Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Laboratory
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Atomic Weapons Establishment
- Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives, France, Centre DAM-lie de
- Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives
- Author
- Laboratory fo Microparticle Analysis, Moscow, Russia
- Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Laboratory ON, Canada
- Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, Reading, United Kingdom
- European Commission, Institute for Transuranium Elements
- Laboratory for Microparticle Analysis, Moscow, Russia
- BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
- Atomic Weapons Establishment, United Kingdom
- AWE
In 2017, the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG) organized their fifth 37 Collaborative Materials Exercise (CMX-5). The exercise samples were two uranium dioxide fuel pellets 38 manufactured from the same starting materials by different processes to have similar bulk isotopic 39 composition, but different spatial uranium isotopic distributions. Sets of identical materials were sent to 40 all participating laboratories, who then utilized their existing nuclear forensic capabilities to 41 independently analyse fuel pellets and identify similarities and differences of the materials’ 42 characteristics. The analytical methods used to probe the fuel pellets included ex situ, such as sectioning 43 or breaking up the pellets and analyzing dissolved pieces using inductively coupled plasma mass 44 spectrometry (ICP-MS), analyzing particles collected from intact or fragmented pellets by secondary ion 45 mass spectrometry (SIMS), as well as in situ methods, such as laser ablation coupled with ICP-MS, 46 autoradiography and nanoSIMS. In this paper we present the results of these independent analyses and 47 compare the capabilities of those nuclear forensic analytical methods to uncover details of the isotopic 48 heterogeneity of uranium fuel pellets.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1727432
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-155818
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 326
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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