Nuclear fuel technology — Preparation of plutonium sources and determination of 238Pu/239Pu isotope ratio by alpha spectrometry

ISO 11483: 2005 describes three simple and fast procedures to prepare plutonium sources and a procedure to measure the activity ratio of ²³⁸Pu to (²³⁹Pu + ²⁴⁰Pu) by alpha spectrometry. The alpha spectrometry method is used for the determination of isotopic abundance of ²³⁸Pu in combination with mass spectrometry and eliminates the possible interferences of ²³⁸U in the latter method. It applies to the analysis of purified solutions of plutonium in 2 mol/l to 4 mol/l nitric acid containing 50 micrograms to 200 micrograms of plutonium per millilitre, as may result from the chemical treatment and purification preceding plutonium isotopic analysis by mass spectrometry.