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

This article discusses the age dating results of plutonium/uranium chronometers with a focus on the consequences for age plutonium determination when the basic assumptions of the methodology are not fully met: Incomplete removal of the daughter nuclides at the production date and uranium contaminati...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry 2014-10, Vol.302 (1), p.399-411
Main Authors: Sturm, M., Richter, S., Aregbe, Y., Wellum, R., Mialle, S., Mayer, K., Prohaska, T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Analytical chemistry
Chemical Sciences
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Criminal investigation
Diagnostic Radiology
Forensic sciences
Hadrons
Heavy Ions
Inorganic Chemistry
Mass spectrometry
Nuclear Chemistry
Nuclear Physics
Physical Chemistry
Plutonium
Uranium
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article discusses the age dating results of plutonium/uranium chronometers with a focus on the consequences for age plutonium determination when the basic assumptions of the methodology are not fully met: Incomplete removal of the daughter nuclides at the production date and uranium contamination of plutonium samples. In addition to the 238 Pu/ 234 U, 239 Pu/ 235 U and 240 Pu/ 236 U, the 242 Pu/ 238 U chronometer is discussed. The 242 Pu/ 238 U radiochronometer has only scarcely been used, due to its high sensitivity to residual uranium. However, it can be a very useful indicator for uranium contamination of aged plutonium samples.
ISSN:0236-5731
1588-2780
DOI:10.1007/s10967-014-3294-8