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High-Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry for 234U/238Pu Age Dating of Plutonium Materials and Comparison to Sector Field Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Michael Krachler,* Rafael Alvarez-Sarandes, and Gert Rasmussen European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, D-76125 Karlsruhe, Germany ABSTRACT: Employing a commercial high-resolution inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (HRICP-OES) instrument, an innovative analytical procedure for the accurate determination of the production age of various Pu materials (Pu powder, cardiac pacemaker battery, 242Cm heat source, etc.) was developed and validated. This undertaking was based on the fact that the α decay of 238Pu present in the investigated samples produced 234U and both mother and daughter could be identified unequivocally using HR-ICP-OES. Benefiting from the high spectral resolution of the instrument (
