Trace Impurities Identified as Forensic Signatures in CMX-5 Fuel Pellets Using X-ray Spectroscopic Techniques.

Small-particle analysis is a highly promising emerging forensic tool for analysis of interdicted special nuclear materials. Integration of microstructural, morphological, compositional, and molecular impurity signatures could provide significant advancements in forensic capabilities. We have applied rapid, high-sensitivity, hard X-ray synchrotron chemical imaging to analyze impurity signatures in two differently fabricated fuel pellets from the 5th Collaborative Materials Exercise (CMX5) of the IAEA Nuclear Forensics International Working Group.

Hydration of α-UO following storage under controlled conditions of temperature and relative humidity.

Changes in chemical speciation of uranium oxides following storage under varied conditions of temperature and relative humidity are valuable for characterizing material provenance. In this study, subsamples of high purity α-UO were stored under four sets of controlled conditions of temperature and relative humidity over several years, and then measured periodically for chemical speciation. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy confirm hydration of α-UO to a schoepite-like end product following storage under each of the varied storage conditions, but the species formed during exposure to the lower relative humidity and lower temperature condition follows different trends from those formed under the other three storage conditions (high relative humidity with high or low temperatures, and low relative humidity with a high temperature).

Unexpected Actinyl Cation-Directed Structural Variation in Neptunyl(VI) A-Type Tri-lacunary Heteropolyoxotungstate Complexes.

A-type tri-lacunary heteropolyoxotungstate anions (e.g., [PW9O34](9-), [AsW9O34](9-), [SiW9O34](10-), and [GeW9O34](10-)) are multidentate oxygen donor ligands that readily form sandwich complexes with actinyl cations ({UO2}(2+), {NpO2}(+), {NpO2}(2+), and {PuO2}(2+)) in near-neutral/slightly alkaline aqueous solutions.

Oxidation and hydration of U3O8 materials following controlled exposure to temperature and humidity.

Chemical signatures correlated with uranium oxide processing are of interest to forensic science for inferring sample provenance. Identification of temporal changes in chemical structures of process uranium materials as a function of controlled temperatures and relative humidities may provide additional information regarding sample history. In this study, a high-purity α-U3O8 sample and three other uranium oxide samples synthesized from reaction routes used in nuclear conversion processes were stored under controlled conditions over 2-3.