Identification of uranium signatures relevant for nuclear safeguards and forensics

Abstract

The paper describes the applicability of different characteristics (signatures) in nuclear safeguards and forensics for assessment of uranium material provenance in terms of production process. The study follows a uranium ore concentrate production from an ore to a U3O8 product. It turned out that rare-earth elemental pattern, radiochronometry (age of ore body and material production date), sulphur and organic impurities are useful to find out the origin or history of the material, while certain trace-elements and isotopics of Pb or Sr were found to be inconclusive. The results will be important to understand the signatures in nuclear safeguards and forensics.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10967-017-5247-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Achieving confidence in trace element analysis for nuclear forensic purposes: ICP-MS measurements using external calibration

“…This signature may be used, together with other characteristics such as isotopic and molecular composition [5,6] to identify the origin of the material or what type of processes the material has undergone. [7,8]. For example, rare earth elements have previously been used to determine the origin of uranium [3,9].…”

Rare Earth Element Determination in Uranium Ore Concentrates Using Online and Offline Chromatography Coupled to ICP-MS

“…However, rare earth elements (REE) can persist through the production process. The REE pattern is not typically perturbed during chemical processing; hence it may provide information regarding the ore location [3][4][5][6][7][8]. For example, unconformity type ores tend to have lower concentrations of light REEs than heavy REEs [9].…”

Multivariate Analysis Based on Geochemical, Isotopic, and Mineralogical Compositions of Uranium-Rich Samples

“…Since 1993, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported 3497 incidents of nuclear and/or radioactive materials outside of regulatory control with 285 confirmed as "acts of trafficking or malicious use" [1]. The predominant source of nuclear fuel worldwide is uranium ore deposits, and therefore, these have been the subject of a growing number of mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic investigations [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. These previous studies have determined and established various geochemical signatures as fingerprints for uranium ore deposits, which can then be used as a means of deciphering the origins of any unknown intercepted nuclear materials.…”