Rapid detection of enriched uranium in food

Abstract

We have developed a quadrupole ICP-MS method for detecting sub-picogram quantities of ²³⁵U in contaminated foods. Notable features included elimination of the requirement for possessing licensed nuclear materials so that non-radiochemical laboratories may perform this analysis in the event of a large-scale nuclear or radiological emergency calling for high sample surge capacity, elimination of several extremely hazardous reagents in sample analysis e.g. aqua regia and hydrofluoric acid, and the method was developed for applying a moderately priced, and widely used quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (Q-ICP-MS). This method could be quickly implemented at many laboratories to increase emergency response capability.

Keywords: Emergency response; Enriched uranium; Food safety; Isotopic ratio; Quadrupole ICP-MS.