The proliferation of special nuclear material (e.g. 235U, 233U, and 239Pu), or SNM, is of concern to the national and international community. Upon interdiction of the materials, it is important to be able to characterize the samples in order to determine their age, origin, and possible processing history. It is the focus of this work to demonstrate the development of new techniques that can be used for metal chronometry and origin identification. The first effort will demonstrate the ability to use scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to determine surface morphology and impurity diffusion within the metallic samples. This movement of impurities can be related to a time signature that allows for the determination to chronometric signatures of the materials. Secondly, SNM undergo predominantly alpha particle decay, which will create defect regions inside the material. The defect sites will increase as the samples ages from its last processing time, and will change the electrical conductivity of the measurements. Therefore, sensitive conductivity measurements have been performed on pure metals and alloys. The change in conductivity observed will allow for the identification of the age of the materials. These techniques can be combined with traditional techniques, such as mass spectrometry, to allow for the development of forensic signatures that can be related to the age and processing history of the material.

Development of pre-detonation nuclear forensic signatures in metallic structures

251st National Meeting (2016)

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