Plutonium age dating (production date measurement) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

摘要

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 using ²³⁵U/²³⁹Pu and ²³⁶U/²⁴⁰Pu chronometers. The other method comprises a straightforward extraction chromatographic separation, followed by ICP-MS measurement for the ²³⁴U/²³⁸Pu, ²³⁵U/²³⁹Pu, ²³⁶U/²⁴⁰Pu and ²³⁸U/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.