Wallenius M, Morgenstern A, Apostolidis C, Mayer K
European Commission, Joint Research Center, Institute for Transuranium Elements, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2002 Oct;374(3):379-84. doi: 10.1007/s00216-002-1555-9. Epub 2002 Sep 10.
This paper describes the analytical methods (thermal ionization mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and alpha spectrometry) that have been developed for determination of the age of uranium and discusses their advantages and limitations. With regard to potential application of the methods (e.g. Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty), the discussion focuses on highly enriched uranium, because this seems to be of highest strategic relevance. The different analytical methods were tested and validated by use of uranium reference materials of different (235)U isotope abundance and of known ages. The results show that thermal ionization mass spectrometry and alpha spectrometry are both very accurate and precise techniques for this application. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, on the other hand, although less precise, because of the different approach to the analytical problem, is still sufficiently accurate to be used as a rapid screening method.
本文描述了已开发出的用于测定铀年龄的分析方法（热电离质谱法、电感耦合等离子体质谱法和α能谱法），并讨论了它们的优点和局限性。关于这些方法的潜在应用（例如《裂变材料禁产条约》），讨论聚焦于高浓缩铀，因为这似乎具有最高的战略相关性。通过使用不同235U同位素丰度和已知年龄的铀标准物质对不同的分析方法进行了测试和验证。结果表明，热电离质谱法和α能谱法在该应用中都是非常准确和精密的技术。另一方面，电感耦合等离子体质谱法虽然由于分析问题的方法不同而精度较低，但仍足够准确，可作为一种快速筛选方法使用。
