Application of a continuous heating method using thermal ionization mass spectrometry to measure isotope ratios of plutonium and uranium in trace amounts of uranium–plutonium mixture sample

Automatic sequential separation with an anion-exchange column for ultra-trace analysis of Pu, U, Th, Pb, and lanthanides in environmental samples

“…The suspension was digested with four different acid mixtures on a hot-plate as follows: acid-1: HNO 3 , 1 M). Then, the drop was loaded onto a zone-refined rhenium filament, and the Pu isotope ratios were measured by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Germany) [19,20].…”

Recent Developments in Nuclear Forensic and Nuclear Safeguards Analysis Using Mass Spectrometry

“…In a bulk analysis, TIMS has been most commonly used due to the low degree of mass spectral interference and mass bias, as well as the high precision and abundance sensitivity with a multi-collector configuration. [19][20][21][22][23] The majority of TIMS systems have several Faraday cups along with one or a few secondary electron multiplier (SEM) detectors. Therefore, a simultaneous detection of isotopes can be performed.…”

“…In a recent study by Saito-Kokubu et al, TIMS was applied for isotope analysis of U and Pu in U-Pu mixture samples by adopting a continuous heating method. 22 Using this approach, the relative standard deviation of the isotope ratio in a sample of U/Pu was less than 2% for 240 Pu/ 239 Pu and 3~4% for 235 U /238 U. Park et al also applied the TIMS system to validate bulk analysis of the environmental swipe samples.…”

Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry

“…Here, sequential measurements of first Pu isotope ratios and then U isotope ratios permits a correction for the 238 Pu-238 U interference. 76 Molecular interferences are usually more pronounced in the lower mass range -most notably for the elements Li and B -and different approaches are utilised to address them. For example in boron N-TIMS determination, the measurement of the isotope ratio 11 B 16 O 2 / 10 B 16 O 2 suffers from the organic interference 12 C 14 N 16 O À .…”

“…These environmental samples are now routinely scrutinised for nuclear particles and their tale-telling isotopic composition using TIMS and other analytical techniques such as ICP-MS, SIMS, and radiometry. 37,76,[186][187][188][189] This is achieved either by performing bulk dissolutions of the smear swipe and subsequent TIMS or ICP-MS analysis, or by micromanipulation of selected particles and subsequent analysis of individual particles, for example, by fission track TIMS or SIMS.…”