Development and validation of a methodology for uranium radiochronometry reference material preparation

The paper describes a methodology for a reference material preparation to be used for the determination of the production date (i.e. the time elapsed since the last chemical processing) of uranium materials based on the 230Th/234U radiochronometer. The reference material was prepared from highly enriched uranium by a complete separation of thorium decay products, thus zeroing the initial daughter nuclide concentration at known time. The complete elimination of thorium from the starting material was verified by gamma spectrometric measurements and by addition of a 232Th tracer to the material and its re-measurement in the final product after the separation. The validation of the methodology was carried out subsequently by comparing the ingrown daughter nuclide 230Th and the measured 230Th/234U ratio after recorded times following the last chemical separation with the calculated values obtained on the basis of their respective half-lives. The prepared reference material can be used as a quality control material for age determination of uranium in nuclear forensics and safeguards as well as for method validation.

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► We developed a novel methodology to prepare a uranium radiochronology reference material.
► The amount of decay products present in uranium is only the function of elapsed time.
► The reference material is a quality control tool in nuclear forensics and safeguards.