The 871 keV gamma ray from O-17 and the identification of plutonium oxide

Disarmament agreements and discussions between the United States and the Ru ssian Federation for reducing the number of stockpiled nuclear weapons requ ire verification of the origin of materials as having come from disassemble d weapons. This has resulted in the identification of measurable "attribute s" that characterize such materials. It has been proposed that the 871 keV gamma ray of O-17 can be observed as an indicator of the unexpected presenc e of plutonium oxide, as opposed to plutonium metal, in such materials. We have shown that the observation of the 871 keV gamma ray is not a specific indicator of the presence of the oxide, but rather indicates the presence o f nitrogen. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.