Isotope ratio analysis of individual uranium particles for safeguards

Esaka, Fumitaka  ; Watanabe, Kazuo; Fukuyama, Hiroyasu; Onodera, Takashi; Esaka, Konomi; Inagawa, Jun; Iguchi, Kazunari; Suzuki, Daisuke   ; Lee, C. G.; Magara, Masaaki  ; Sakurai, Satoshi ; Usuda, Shigekazu

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) was qualified as a member of the IAEA network analytical laboratories (NWALs) for particle and bulk analyses of safeguards environmental samples in January 2003. The particle analysis gives more detailed information on nuclear facility operation than the bulk analysis because the isotope ratios of nuclear materials in the samples collected inside nuclear facilities (swipe samples) can be determined for individual particles. We applied, as a method for uranium isotope ratio measurement, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to particle analysis. Prior to the SIMS analysis, the particles in a swipe sample are recovered onto a carrier by impaction. The carriers with the recovered particles are then screened by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. We integrated these techniques into a standard procedure, which is applied to domestic and IAEA swipe samples routinely.