IUPAC-IUGS status report on the half-lives of 238U, 235U and 234U

A provisional value for the 234U half-life can be calculated with the assumption of secular equilibrium in the analyzed natural samples. This assumption has not yet been verified independently and its metrological traceability appears sub-optimum. A Type B evaluation suggests that the ca. 0.17% offset between the N(234U)/N(238U) number-ratios of the natural samples used to estimate the 235U half-life and those of the four samples used to estimate the 234U half-life should be compounded into the standard measurement uncertainty of the latter. The resulting provisional uncertainty interval (k = 2) for the 234U half-life is (244.55-247.77) ka, corresponding to λ234 = (2.8203-2.8344) Ma−1.