Nuclear verification: new facility for trace analysis

Investigators checking confiscated radioactive material (exercise)

To further strengthen its activities in the detection of single uranium particles, the JRC and Euratom Safeguards have decided to jointly establish a high-sensitivity particle analysis laboratory. The new laboratory’s core facility will be a large geometry secondary ion mass spectrometer (LG-SIMS) for trace analysis of aerosol particles. It will allow the detection speed and sensitivity of nuclear material to be increased by at least a factor of ten. The minor isotopes of uranium will become accessible, which is important for identifying the source of the material.