Investigation of the oxygen isotopic composition in oxidic uranium compounds as a new property in nuclear forensic science

Abstract.

The analysis of seized nuclear material aims at identifying the origin of the material. Determination of the n(¹⁸O)/n(¹⁶O) ratio for the uranium oxide adds another characteristic property to the pattern which enables location of the production area of the material. A method has been developed for n(¹⁸O)/n(¹⁶O) ratio measurement which uses thermal ionization mass spectrometric (TIMS) analysis of the ²³⁸UO⁺ species. It has been shown that uranium oxides of different geographic origin have significantly different n(¹⁸O)/n(¹⁶O) ratios, whereas different samples of the same origin have constant oxygen isotopes ratios.