Age determination of plutonium material by alpha spectrometry and thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Age is a key parameter to deduce the history of a plutonium material. An experimental method using both alpha spectrometry and thermal ionization mass spectrometry has been developed for the age determination of plutonium material. This method is based on the parent/daughter pair 241 Pu/ 241 Am ratio and has been validated using several plutonium source of known age. The results obtained are in good agreement with the last purification date of plutonium source.