title: Application of neodymium isotope ratio measurements for the origin assessment of uranium ore concentrates.
abstract: A novel procedure has been developed for the measurement of (143)Nd/(144)Nd isotope ratio in various uranium-bearing materials, such as uranium ores and ore concentrates (UOC) in order to evaluate the usefulness and applicability of variations of (143)Nd/(144)Nd isotope ratio for provenance assessment in nuclear forensics. Neodymium was separated and pre-concentrated by extraction chromatography and then the isotope ratios were measured by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). The method was validated by the measurement of standard reference materials (La Jolla, JB-2 and BCR-2) and the applicability of the procedure was demonstrated by the analysis of uranium samples of world-wide origin. The investigated samples show distinct (143)Nd/(144)Nd ratio depending on the ore type, deposit age and Sm/Nd ratio. Together with other characteristics of the material in question, the Nd isotope ratio is a promising signature for nuclear forensics and suggests being indicative of the source material, the uranium ore.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany; Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Mekelweg 15, 2629 JB Delft, Netherlands. Electronic address: judit.krajko@ec.europa.eu.
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krajkó
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.affiliation: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal, P.O. Box 3640, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Ezgi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yalcintas
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wallenius
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mayer
keywords: Neodymium isotope ratio; Nuclear forensics; Origin assessment; Uranium ore concentrate