50 Years of uranium isotopic reference materials at JRC-Geel

The history of uranium isotopic reference materials certified at JRC-Geel and provided to customers within the past about 50 years is reviewed, by presenting the methods for preparation and certification as well as most relevant applications for several examples of certified reference materials (CRMs). This includes the IRMM 019 029 series of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) materials and several series of uranium nitrate solutions, namely the IRMM 072, IRMM 073, IRMM 074, IRMM 075, IRMM 183 187, IRMM 2019 2030, IRMM 3000 and IRMM 3636a,b series. The certified isotope ratios for all of these isotope reference materials are traceable to the SI via gravimetrical preparation, either directly through gravimetrical mixing of highly enriched base materials, or indirectly by using the existing gravimetrically prepared reference materials for calibration of the mass spectrometers used for the certification measurements. Due to the developments of isotope mass spectrometers and standardized analytical methods during the past decades, the performance of certification measurements in terms of precision, accuracy and uncertainties has improved significantly. This has led to a comprehensive set of state of the art uranium isotopic reference materials offered by JRC-Geel, which is available for nuclear safety and security purposes but also much appreciated in the scientific community.

RICHTER Stephan;  HENNESSY Carmel;  TRUYENS Jan;  JAKOBSSON Ulf;  VENCHIARUTTI Celia;  BUJAK Renata;  AREGBE Yetunde; 

2024-03-05

SPRINGER

JRC134865

0236-5731 (online),   

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10967-023-09287-4,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134865,   

10.1007/s10967-023-09287-4 (online),