Year
2000
Abstract
New Brunswick Laboratory (NBL) recently installed the first commercially available model of a new generation of thermal ionization mass spectrometer (TIMS) to improve isotopic measurement capabilities. The characteristics of this new instrument are described, as well as the reasons for the need of high performance mass spectrometers in nuclear safeguards. Performance requirements for different nuclear safeguards activities are described in the context of nuclear materials accountability, nonproliferation verification, environmental analysis and remediation, nuclear fuel production, and forensic analysis. High performance isotope ratio mass spectrometers should be capable of measuring uranium with high reproducibility for routine analyses of bulk materials (235U/238U %RSD