Radiological chronometry (i.e. �Age Dating�) is an important signature in nuclear forensics and involves determining the uranium and thorium isotopic content from the fractional ingrowth of 230Th from the decay of 234U to estimate the time elapsed since the material was last purified or fabricated.  A variety of uranium metal samples went through different etching procedures prior to sample dissolution and analyzed to determine the effects on radiological age determination. Results demonstrate that surface material should rigorously be removed to avoid introducing a systematic bias in determining radiological age. Samples with a less rigorous process were found to be 15 years too old. Unetched samples appeared several hundred years too old. These results may be the effect of the etching procedures used or from 230Th contamination present at the time the uranium metals were fabricated. This is an important topic to address when developing standard reference materials for radiological chronometry.

Radiological chronometry of nuclear forensic uranium metal samples

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.