Development of GC-ICP-TOF-MS for Nuclear Forensic Applications

The field of post-detonation nuclear forensics aims to characterize the design of a nuclear weapon after it detonates. More specifically, post-detonation forensic research at the University of Tennessee uses glassy debris generated in the fireball of a surface nuclear blast, or nuclear melt glass, to help characterize the elemental and isotopic constituents of a nuclear weapon. To successfully improve state-of-the-art analytical practices in post-detonation nuclear forensics, a new approach must demonstrate both improved accuracy and more timely results to be considered for implementation over currently established analytical methods. One of the most time- consuming aspects of technical nuclear forensic analysis is the chemical separation process, where fission and activation products are identified and quantified for isotopic analysis. It was therefore deemed prudent to develop a more rapid approach to fission product separations of post- detonation debris samples. A coupled gas chromatograph inductively-coupled plasma time-of- flight mass spectrometer, GC-ICP-TOF-MS, was developed to exploit the enhanced speed of gas- phase chemistry. Primary accomplishments in the development of this instrument are presented here. Much work was undertaken to overcome challenges in volatile organometallic sample preparation, kinetic and thermal continuity, and sample injection methodology. The solutions to these hurdles, as well as preliminary results from the instrument, are presented.