Nuclear forensics

The isotopic signature of a nuclear material provides as an isotopic fingerprint that may reveal its source, irradiation history, or even its intended purpose. Our capability of detecting minute amounts of actinides generally allows source apportionment of a nuclear contamination even in remote and highly diluted environmental samples. Together with our collaborators we are also developing novel techniques to determine the irradiation age of nuclear materials based on long lived Cm-isotopes.