“…This work proposed to improve the ability to use quantitative color analyses as an indicator of process provenance for nuclear forensics assessments through a combined computational and experimental evaluation of the origins of color differences in PuO2. Color differences in calcined PuO2 have long been noted in their production, with descriptions of the color including yellow, 11 olive-green, 12,13 olive-brown, 12 amber, 14 black, 14,15 dark khaki, 16 and yellow-green 11 . These differences in color have been attributed to various process differences, including calcination temperature, 17 initial Pu compound, 1 stoichiometry, 5 and microstructure, 4 but the significance of each of these effects on the apparent or spectral color has not been fully explored.…”