6533b862fe1ef96bd12c6392

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Uranium from German Nuclear Power Projects of the 1940s— A Nuclear Forensic Investigation

Adrian NichollKlaus LützenkirchenL. Keith FifieldN. ErdmannN. ErdmannJoan HortaJ. V. KratzZsolt VargaGert RasmussenMaria WalleniusPieter Van BelleNorbert TrautmannRazvan Aurel BudaRazvan Aurel BudaMichaela B. FröhlichMichaela B. FröhlichPeter SteierStephen G. TimsKlaus Mayer

subject

Isotopes of uraniumbusiness.industryWirtz KarlNuclear forensicsnuclear forensicsRadiochemistrychemistry.chemical_elementGeneral ChemistryActinideNuclear powerUraniumCommunicationsCatalysisuraniumUranium-236chemistryUranium-234Environmental scienceHeisenberg WernerbusinessPlutonium-239mass spectrometry

description

Here we present a nuclear forensic study of uranium from German nuclear projects which used different geometries of metallic uranium fuel. Through measurement of the (230)Th/(234)U ratio, we could determine that the material had been produced in the period from 1940 to 1943. To determine the geographical origin of the uranium, the rare-earth-element content and the (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratio were measured. The results provide evidence that the uranium was mined in the Czech Republic. Trace amounts of (236)U and (239)Pu were detected at the level of their natural abundance, which indicates that the uranium fuel was not exposed to any major neutron fluence.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2015-11-02Angewandte Chemie International Edition
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201504874