Rapid and precise determination of the ²³⁸Pu/²³⁹Pu isotope ratio using thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract

Alternative filament regulation approach for TIMS alone measurement of 238Pu/239Pu in comparison to conventional TIMS and alpha spectrometry for routine plutonium isotope ratio determination.

High-Precision Measurement of the 238Pu/239Pu Isotope Ratio by TIMS

“…However, there is an ambiguity on the amount of uranium left in the purified plutonium fraction, which might affect the overall uncertainty in the 238 Pu/ 239 Pu isotope ratio measurement. While our laboratory’s recent research on plutonium isotope ratio measurement using TIMS shows promising results for routine analysis, they are not adequate for high-precision measurement, i.e., better than 0.5% in the isotope ratio of 238 Pu/ 239 Pu. , Hence, our aim was to develop a robust TIMS methodology for 238 Pu/ 239 Pu measurement which is not affected by the presence of trace amounts of uranium. Initial experimental investigations were conducted using the interfering element correction (IEC) method, as reported by Aggarwal et al, to assess the impact of varying amounts of uranium on measurement precision and accuracy.…”