The jackknife as an approach for uncertainty assessment in gamma spectrometric measurements of uranium isotope ratios

The jackknife as an approach for uncertainty estimation in gamma spectrometric uranium isotope ratio measurements was evaluated. Five different materials ranging from depleted uranium (DU) to high enriched uranium (HEU) were measured using gamma spectrometry. High resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) was used as a reference method for comparing the results obtained with the gamma spectrometric method. The relative combined uncertainty in the gamma spectrometric measurements of the U-238/U-235 isotope ratio using the jackknife was about 10-20% (k = 2), which proved to be fit-for-purpose in order to distinguish between different uranium categories. Moreover, the enrichment of U-235 in HEU could be measured with an uncertainty of 1-2%. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved