Practical application of thermal ionization mass spectrometry for the determination of plutonium for the LANL Bioassay Program (LA-UR-00-1697)

Utilization of thermal ionization mass spectrometry as a routine analytical service provided to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Bioassay Program has evolved significantly since its implementation just over three years ago. Converting this unique research tool designed to support nuclear weapons testing to a quasi-production mode for the routine analysis of ~300 urine samples/year for ultra-low levels of plutonium has required resolution of numerous practical issues. These issues include clean-room sample preparation, adequate tracer recovery, customer specified turn-around times, throughput, water and urine blank values, statistical data reduction, and quality control and performance evaluation sample requirements.