Uranium from German Nuclear Power Projects of the 1940s--A Nuclear Forensic Investigation.
Here we present a nuclear forensic study of uranium from German nuclear projects which used different geometries of metallic uranium fuel. Through measurement of the (230)Th/(234)U ratio, we could determine that the material had been produced in the period from 1940 to 1943. To determine the geographical origin of the uranium, the rare-earth-element content and the (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratio were measured. The results provide evidence that the uranium was mined in the Czech Republic. Trace amounts of (236)U and (239)Pu were detected at the level of their natural abundance, which indicates that the uranium fuel was not exposed to any major neutron fluence.
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Klaus
K
Mayer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany). Maria-S.Wallenius@ec.europa.eu.
Maria
M
Wallenius
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Klaus
K
Lützenkirchen
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Joan
J
Horta
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Adrian
A
Nicholl
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Gert
G
Rasmussen
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Pieter
P
van Belle
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).
Zsolt
Z
Varga
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).|Institut für Kernchemie, Universität Mainz, Fritz-Strassmann Weg 2, 55128 Mainz (Germany).
Razvan
R
Buda
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe (Germany).|Institut für Kernchemie, Universität Mainz, Fritz-Strassmann Weg 2, 55128 Mainz (Germany).
Nicole
N
Erdmann
Institut für Kernchemie, Universität Mainz, Fritz-Strassmann Weg 2, 55128 Mainz (Germany).
Jens-Volker
JV
Kratz
Institut für Kernchemie, Universität Mainz, Fritz-Strassmann Weg 2, 55128 Mainz (Germany).
Norbert
N
Trautmann
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601 (Australia).
L Keith
LK
Fifield
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601 (Australia).
Stephen G
SG
Tims
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601 (Australia).|Universität Wien, Fakultät für Chemie, Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna (Austria).
Michaela B
MB
Fröhlich
Universität Wien, Fakultät für Physik, Isotopenforschung und Kernphysik, Währinger Strasse 17, 1090 Vienna (Austria).
Peter
P
Steier
Heisenberg, Werner; Wirtz, Karl; mass spectrometry; nuclear forensics; uranium