Uncovering uranium isotopic heterogeneity of fuel pellets from the fifth collaborative materials exercise of The Nuclear
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Uncovering uranium isotopic heterogeneity of fuel pellets from the fifth collaborative materials exercise of The Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group Slobodan V. Jovanovic1 · Peter K. Weber2 · Allan J. Pidduck3 · Amy M. Gaffney2 · Pascal Girard4 · Fabien Pointurier4 · Magnus Hedberg5,8 · Andrew J. Simons3 · Vladimir Stebelkov6 · Tara Kell1 · Kimberly Knight2 · Tashi Parsons‑Davis2 · Michael Kristo2 · Ross W. Williams2 · Kerri C. Treinen2 · Neil J. Montgomery3 · Josh King3 · Amethyst Wickenden3 · Darrell Knight3 · Anne‑Laure Fauré4 · Amelie Hubert4 · Noelle Albert5 · Marie‑Christine Vincent5 · Maria Wallenius5 · Ivan A. Elantyev6 · Kirill D. Zhizhin6 · Jon M. Schwantes7 · Olivia Marsden3 · Fiona Taylor3 Received: 29 July 2020 / Accepted: 15 October 2020 / Published online: 18 November 2020 © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2020
Abstract In 2017, the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group organized their fifth Collaborative Materials Exercise (CMX-5). The exercise samples were two uranium dioxide fuel pellets manufactured from the same starting materials by different processes to have similar bulk isotopic composition, but different spatial uranium isotopic distributions. Sets of identical materials were sent to all participating laboratories, who then utilized their existing nuclear forensic capabilities to independently analyse fuel pellets and identify similarities and differences of the materials’ characteristics. Here we present and compare the ability of different analytical techniques to spatially resolve uranium isotopic heterogeneity in the uranium oxide fuel pellets. Keywords Nuclear forensic analysis of uranium fuel pellets · Uranium isotopic analysis · Secondary ion mass spectrometry · Autoradiography · Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry · Laser ablation
Introduction
Slobodan V. Jovanovic and Peter K. Weber have equally contributed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07470-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Slobodan V. Jovanovic [email protected] * Peter K. Weber [email protected] 1
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Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Laboratory, 3484 Limebank Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada Nuclear and Chemical Science Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, USA Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, UK
Nuclear forensics is the “…examination of nuclear or other radioactive material, or of evidence that is contaminated with radionuclides, in the context of legal proceedings under international or national laws related to nuclear security” [1]. For over a decade, nuclear forensic science has gained prominence as an investigative tool in response 4
Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Centre DAM-Île de France, 91297 Arpajon Cedex, France
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Joint Research Centre, European Commission, PO Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany
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La
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