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Title: Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to uranium certified reference materials

Abstract

Uranium certified reference materials (CRM) issued by New Brunswick Laboratory were subjected to dating using four independent uranium-series radiochronometers. In all cases, there was acceptable agreement between the model ages calculated using the 231Pa–235U, 230Th–234U, 227Ac–235U or 226Ra–234U radiochronometers and either the certified 230Th–234U model date (CRM 125-A and CRM U630), or the known purification date (CRM U050 and CRM U100). Finally, the agreement between the four independent radiochronometers establishes these uranium certified reference materials as ideal informal standards for validating dating techniques utilized in nuclear forensic investigations in the absence of standards with certified model ages for multiple radiochronometers.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division. Physical and Life Sciences Directorate
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
1424080
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-737009
Journal ID: ISSN 0236-5731; TRN: US1801901
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 314; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0236-5731
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY; U-series radiochronometry; nuclear forensics; age-dating; 226Ra; 227Ac

Citation Formats

Rolison, John M., Treinen, Kerri C., McHugh, Kelly C., Gaffney, Amy M., and Williams, Ross W. Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to uranium certified reference materials. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1007/s10967-017-5619-x.
Rolison, John M., Treinen, Kerri C., McHugh, Kelly C., Gaffney, Amy M., & Williams, Ross W. Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to uranium certified reference materials. United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5619-x
Rolison, John M., Treinen, Kerri C., McHugh, Kelly C., Gaffney, Amy M., and Williams, Ross W. 2017. "Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to uranium certified reference materials". United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5619-x. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1424080.
@article{osti_1424080,
title = {Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to uranium certified reference materials},
author = {Rolison, John M. and Treinen, Kerri C. and McHugh, Kelly C. and Gaffney, Amy M. and Williams, Ross W.},
abstractNote = {Uranium certified reference materials (CRM) issued by New Brunswick Laboratory were subjected to dating using four independent uranium-series radiochronometers. In all cases, there was acceptable agreement between the model ages calculated using the 231Pa–235U, 230Th–234U, 227Ac–235U or 226Ra–234U radiochronometers and either the certified 230Th–234U model date (CRM 125-A and CRM U630), or the known purification date (CRM U050 and CRM U100). Finally, the agreement between the four independent radiochronometers establishes these uranium certified reference materials as ideal informal standards for validating dating techniques utilized in nuclear forensic investigations in the absence of standards with certified model ages for multiple radiochronometers.},
doi = {10.1007/s10967-017-5619-x},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1424080}, journal = {Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry},
issn = {0236-5731},
number = 3,
volume = 314,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

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Cited by: 16 works
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Works referenced in this record:

Precision Measurement of Half-Lives and Specific Activities of U 235 and U 238
journal, November 1971


235U–231Pa age dating of uranium materials for nuclear forensic investigations
journal, January 2013


Round-robin 230Th–234U age dating of bulk uranium for nuclear forensics
journal, July 2015


Evaluation of chronometers in plutonium age determination for nuclear forensics: What if the ‘Pu/U clocks’ do not match?
journal, July 2014


Nuclear Forensic Analysis
book, February 2005


Developing 226Ra and 227Ac age-dating techniques for nuclear forensics to gain insight from concordant and non-concordant radiochronometers
journal, September 2015


Age Determination of Highly Enriched Uranium:  Separation and Analysis of 231 Pa
journal, November 2002


The half-lives of uranium-234 and thorium-230
journal, August 2000


Works referencing / citing this record:

Application of the 226Ra–230Th–234U and 227Ac–231Pa–235U radiochronometers to UF6 cylinders
journal, June 2018


Production and standardization of an on-demand protactinium-233 tracer
journal, August 2018


A case study in plutonium radiochronometry using multiple isotope systems
journal, August 2018


Improved protactinium spike calibration method applied to 231Pa–235U age-dating of certified reference materials for nuclear forensics
journal, August 2018


Evaluating uranium radiochronometry by single-collector mass spectrometry for nuclear forensics: a multi-instrument investigation
journal, October 2019


An interlaboratory collaboration to determine consensus 231Pa/235U model ages of a uranium certified reference material for nuclear forensics
journal, February 2020