Publications

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

Author(s)
Klaus Mayer, Maria Wallenius, Klaus Lützenkirchen, Joan Hortha, Adrian Nicholl, Gert Rasmussen, Pieter van Belle, Zsolt Varga, Razvan Buda, Nicole Erdmann, Jens-Volker Kratz, Norbert Trautmann, L. Keith Fifield, Stephen G. Tims, Michaela Fröhlich, Peter Steier
Abstract

Here we present a nuclear forensic study of uranium from German nuclear projects which used different geometries of metallic uranium fuel.3b,d, 4 Through measurement of the

230Th/

234U 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

87Sr/

86Sr ratio were measured. The results provide evidence that the uranium was mined in the Czech Republic. Trace amounts of

236U and

239Pu were detected at the level of their natural abundance, which indicates that the uranium fuel was not exposed to any major neutron fluence.

Organisation(s)
Isotope Physics
External organisation(s)
Institute for Transuranium Elements, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Australian National University
Journal
Angewandte Chemie (International Edition)
Volume
54
Pages
13452-13456
No. of pages
5
ISSN
1433-7851
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201504874
Publication date
11-2015
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103013 Ion physics, 103014 Nuclear physics, 104020 Radiochemistry, 601022 Contemporary history
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Chemistry(all), Catalysis
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/uranium-from-german-nuclear-power-projects-of-the-1940s--a-nuclear-forensic-investigation(e9518f00-35b2-49d8-b08b-e5829a03d879).html