[Erasmus]

Anyone know how they detect one element as opposed to another? Would everything set off a geiger or neutron detector, or whatever it is they're using, in the same way?

1. Mass spectroscopy.

2. Standard inorganic chemical assays.

3. Detailed study of the time decay of the radiation counts yields the component decay rates resulting in the total observed count; each of these rates is characteristic of a particular radioisotope.

[Fred Hayek]

Another analysis method is gamma ray spectrum. Part of the decay energy (even for Pu) is in the form of gamma radiation. Scintillation detector connected to a multichannel analyzer would identify the peaks in the spectrum (measured in KeV's). Then check against standard references (Handbook of Chemistry and Physics).