Analysis of German uranium ores and products of known provenance to support nuclear forensics

Between World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union, uranium mining in the former German Democratic Republic was of worldwide significance. The capability to attribute uranium ore, preparation products, uranium ore concentrates, tailings and residues is important for successful nuclear forensics examinations. ICP-MS, ICP-OES and gamma spectroscopic analysis of a selection of 70 uranium samples originating from Germany was carried out. These results were compared with similar data from material of different origin, including 11 international samples, using statistical analysis. The results of the study show that a relatively small number of key impurity parameters are important, depending on sample type, possibly supporting attribution in future nuclear forensics cases.