Basic characterization of highly enriched uranium by gamma spectrometry

Gamma-spectrometric methods suitable for the characterization of highly enriched uranium samples encountered in illicit trafficking of nuclear materials are presented. In particular, procedures for determining the 234U, 235U, 238U, 232U and 236U contents and the age of highly enriched uranium are described. Consequently, the total uranium content and isotopic composition can be calculated. For determining the 238U and 232U contents a low-background chamber was used. In addition, age dating of uranium was also performed using low-background spectrometry.