For the first time, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) was used to carry out isotopic measurement on single submicrometer-size uranium particles. The analytical procedure was applied on two particle-containing samples already analyzed in the same laboratory by established techniques for particle analysis: combination of the fission track technique with thermo-ionization mass spectrometry (FT-TIMS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Particles were extracted from their initial matrix with ethanol and deposited on a polycarbonate disk where they were fixed in a layer of an organic compound (collodion). Prior to the isotopic analysis, particles were precisely located on the disk's surface by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for one sample and using the fission track technique for the other sample. Most of the particles were smaller than 1 μm, and their (235)U content was in the femtogram range. (235)U/(238)U ratios were successfully analyzed for all located particles using a nanosecond-UV laser (Cetac LSX 213 nm) coupled to a quadrupole-based ICPMS (Thermo "X-Series II"). LA-ICPMS results, although less precise and accurate (typically 10%) than the ones obtained by FT-TIMS and SIMS due to short (20-40 s), transient, and noisy signals, are in good agreement with the certified values or with the results obtained with other techniques. Thanks to good measurement efficiency (~6 × 10(-4)) and high signal/noise ratio during the analysis, LA-ICPMS can be considered a very promising technique for fast particle analysis, provided that uranium-bearing particles are fixed on the sample holder and located prior to isotope measurement.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident led to important releases of radionuclides into the environment, and trace levels of plutonium (Pu) were detected in northeastern Japan. However, measurements of Pu isotopic atom and activity ratios are required to differentiate between the contributions of global nuclear test fallout and FDNPP emissions. In this study, we used a double-focusing sector field ICP-MS to measure Pu atom and activity ratios in recently deposited sediment along rivers draining the most contaminated part of the inland radioactive plume. Results showed that plutonium isotopes (i.e., (239)Pu, (240)Pu, (241)Pu, and (242)Pu) were detected in all samples, although in extremely low concentrations. The (241)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios measured in sediment deposits (0.0017-0.0884) were significantly higher than the corresponding values attributed to the global fallout (0.00113 ± 0.00008 on average for the Northern Hemisphere between 31°-71° N: Kelley, J. M.; Bond, L. A.; Beasley, T. M. Global distribution of Pu isotopes and (237)Np. Sci. Total. Env. 1999, 237/238, 483-500). The results indicated the presence of Pu from FDNPP, in slight excess compared to the Pu background from global fallout that represented up to ca. 60% of Pu in the analyzed samples. These results demonstrate that this radionuclide has been transported relatively long distances (∼45 km) from FDNPP and been deposited in rivers representing a potential source of Pu to the ocean. In future, the high (241)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratio of the Fukushima accident sourced-Pu should be measured to quantify the supply of continental-originating material from Fukushima Prefecture to the Pacific Ocean.

In this article, performance of the coupling of a UV-fs-LA system with a high sensitivity ICP-MS for isotope analysis of individual micrometric uranium particles, including minor isotopes 234U and 236U, is discussed.