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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Separation of Uranium and Thorium for 230Th-U Dating of Submarine Hydrothermal Sulfides
Published on: May 20, 2019
IRMM-1000a and IRMM-1000b uranium reference materials certified for the production date. Part I: methodology,
Zsolt Varga1, Célia Venchiarutti2, Adrian Nicholl1
1European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Transuranium Elements, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Abstract:
The paper describes the preparation and production of the reference materials, IRMM-1000a and IRMM-1000b, certified for the production date based on the 230Th/234U radiochronometer in compliance with ISO Guide 34:2009. The production date of the reference materials corresponds to the last separation of 230Th from 234U, i.e. when the initial daughter nuclide content in the material was finally removed. For the preparation low-enriched uranium was used, which was purified using a unique methodology to guarantee high U recovery and Th separation efficiency. The CRM is intended for calibration, quality control, and assessment of method performance in nuclear forensics and safeguards.
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