title: Plutonium age dating (production date measurement) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
abstract: This paper describes rapid methods for the determination of the production date (age dating) of plutonium (Pu) materials by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for nuclear forensic and safeguards purposes. One of the presented methods is a rapid, direct measurement without chemical separation using235U/239Pu and236U/240Pu chronometers. The other method comprises a straightforward extraction chromatographic separation, followed by ICP-MS measurement for the234U/238Pu,235U/239Pu,236U/240Pu and238U/242Pu chronometers. Age dating results of two plutonium certified reference materials (SRM 946 and 947, currently distributed as NBL CRM 136 and 137) are in good agreement with the archive purification dates.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nicholl
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wallenius
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mayer
keywords: Age dating; Nuclear forensics; Nuclear safeguards; Plutonium; Radiochronometry