Plutonium age dating (production date measurement) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

This paper describes rapid methods for the determination of the production date (age dating) of plutonium (Pu) materials by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for nuclear forensic and safeguards purposes. One of the presented methods is a rapid, direct measurement without chemical separation using U/Pu and U/Pu chronometers. The other method comprises a straightforward extraction chromatographic separation, followed by ICP-MS measurement for the U/Pu, U/Pu, U/Pu and U/Pu chronometers. Age dating results of two plutonium certified reference materials (SRM 946 and 947, currently distributed as NBL CRM 136 and 137) are in good agreement with the archive purification dates.