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

ABSTRACT: 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.

SUBMITTER: Mayer K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4678420 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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

Mayer Klaus K Wallenius Maria M Lützenkirchen Klaus K Horta Joan J Nicholl Adrian A Rasmussen Gert G van Belle Pieter P Varga Zsolt Z Buda Razvan R Erdmann Nicole N Kratz Jens-Volker JV Trautmann Norbert N Fifield L Keith LK Tims Stephen G SG Fröhlich Michaela B MB Steier Peter P

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) 20150907 45

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 ( ...[more]

PMID: 26501922

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