Identification of unknown nuclear fuel by impurities and physical parameters

Analytical parameters sufficient for identification of nuclear material of unknown origin have been assayed for a number of examples of uranium dioxid e fuel. These parameters comprise isotopic composition of uranium and the m orphology features of a fuel pellet. However, in practice, it occurs that a sample of an industrial material corresponds frequently to the specificati on limits of several suppliers. In order to narrow further a range for pote ntial sources. additional analytical parameters are necessary, such as fuel pellet impurity levels and surface roughness. In this study we utilise res ults from the following nuclear analytical techniques: thermal-ionization m ass spectrometry, glow discharge mass spectrometry and profilometry. By way of example, we demonstrate how these results serve to differentiate the so urces of confiscated, vagabond nuclear materials.