Important nomenclature and ideas
12.1 Discovery of the Neutron
12.2 Nuclear Properties
12.3 The Deuteron
12.4 Nuclear Forces
12.5 Nuclear Stability
12.6 Radioactive Decay
12.7 Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Decays
12.8 Radioactive Nuclides
13.4 Fission
13.5 Fission Reactors
13.6 Fusion
CHAPTERS 12 and partly 13
The Atomic Nucleus / Nuclear Physics The Atomic Nucleus / Nuclear Physics
It is said that Cockroft and Walton were interested in raising the voltage of their
equipment, its reliability, and so on, more and more, as so often happens when you are involved with technical problems, and that eventually Rutherford lost patience and said,
“If you don’t put a scintillation screen in and look for alpha particles by the end of the
symbol Atomic
N Z
A
_
as Z is the ordering principle of the periodic table of the elements, it is often dropped
symbol Atomic
N Z
A
Z
_
e- and e+ are also called beta radiation
Positrons have same mass and spin as electron but positive charge
12.1: Discovery of the Neutron
Rutherford proposed the atomic structure with the massive nucleu s in 1911.
the nucleus was known only in 1932
Three reasons why electrons cannot exist within the nucleus:
1) Nuclear size
The uncertainty principle puts a lower limit on its kinetic energy tha t is much larger that any kinetic energy observed for an electron e mitted from nuclei (its actually the result of β-decay).
2) Nuclear spin
If a deuteron nucleus were to consist of protons and electrons, the deuteron must contain 2 protons and 1 electron. A nucleus compo sed of 3 fermions must result in a half-integral spin. But it has bee n measured to be 1. So no electrons can possible in the nucleus (but they apparently come out of certain nuclei)
Discovery of the Neutron
3) Nuclear magnetic moment:
The magnetic moment of an electron is over 1000 times larger tha n that of a proton.
The measured nuclear magnetic moments are on the same order of magnitude as the proton’s, so an electron cannot be a part of th e nucleus.
In 1930 the German physicists Bothe and Becker used a
radioactive polonium source that emitted α particles. When these α particles bombarded beryllium, the radiation
penetrated several centimeters of lead but was readily absorbed
Discovery of the Neutron
In 1932 Chadwick proposed that the new radiation produced by α + Be consisted of neutrons. His experimental data estimated the n eutron’s mass as somewhere between 1.005 u and 1.008 u, not far from the modern value of 1.0087 u.
The electromagnetic radiation (photons) are called gamma rays w hich have energies on the order of MeV.
Curie and Joliot performed several measurements to study penetra ting high-energy gamma rays.
There are also electrons (and positrons) emerging from atoms, bet a rays (but they are not constituents of the nucleus themselves)
Nuclear Properties
The symbol of an atomic nucleus is .
where Z = atomic number (number of protons) N = neutron number (number of neutrons)
A = mass number (Z + N)
X = chemical element symbol
Each nuclear species with a given Z and A is called a nuclide.
Z characterizes a chemical element.
The dependence of the chemical properties on N is negligible,
certain physical properties, e.g thermal expansion show measurable differences due to isotope effects.
Nuclides with the same neutron number are called isotones and the same value of A are called isobars.
12.2: Nuclear Properties
The nuclear charge is +e times the number (Z) of protons.
Hydrogen’s isotopes:
Deuterium: Heavy hydrogen. Has a neutron as well as a proton in its nucleus.
Tritium: Has two neutrons and one proton, is radioactive, about 40 tons on earth.
The nuclei of the deuterium and tritium atoms are called deuterons and tritons.
Atoms with the same Z, but different mass number A, are called isotopes.
Sizes and Shapes of Nuclei
Rutherford concluded that the range of the nuclear force must be less than about 10−14 m.
Assume that nuclei are spheres of radius R.
Particles (electrons, protons, neutrons, and alphas) scatter when proje cted close to the nucleus.
The nuclear force is often called the strong force.
There is no simple closed form equation for this force, so we don’t hav e a simple potential energy function that we could put into the Schrödi nger Equation, but quantum mechanics reigns supreme in the nuclear realm as well
Sizes and Shapes of Nuclei
The nuclear radius may be approximated to be R = r0A1/3 where r0 ≈ 1.2 × 10−15 m.
We use the femtometer with 1 fm = 10−15 m, or the fermi.
The proton’s intrinsic magnetic moment points in the same direction as its intrinsic spin angular momentum (as it is positive).
Nuclear magnetic moments are measured in units of the nuclear magneto n μN.
The divisor in calculating μN is the proton mass mp, which makes the nucle ar magneton 1836 times smaller than the Bohr magneton of the electron.
The proton magnetic moment is μp = 2.79 μN.
The magnetic moment of the electron is μe = −1.00116 μB. (1 in last chapter q uantum electrodynamics had been ignored)
The neutron magnetic moment is μn = −1.91 μN.
The nonzero neutron magnetic moment implies that the neutron has negat ive and positive internal charge components.
Complex internal charge distribution, just like the proton.
Intrinsic Magnetic Moment
A few muons (-1e charge, ½ spin) are
created from the energy in the inelastic collision and the release of
nuclear binding energy, which gets converted into mass
Relative cross sections
Deep
Atomic masses are denoted by the symbol u.
1 u = 1.66054 × 10−27 kg = 931.49 MeV/c2
Both neutrons and protons, collectively called nucleons, are con structed of other particles called quarks.
Nuclear Properties
1 proton plus 1 neutron = 2.0159414 u ≈ 1877.84 MeV
12.3: The Deuteron,
nucleus of the deuterium atom 2H The mass of a deuteron = 2.0135532 u ≈ 1875.61293 MeV
The deuterium mass = 2.01410778 (mass of a proton + mass of a neutron + mass of an electron minus the mass equivalents of two different types of binding energy). Chemical symbol D (isotope)
The difference = 0.000549 u + mass of an electron and take off its binding energy mass equivalent 13.6 eV / c2.
The deuteron is bound by a mass-energy Bd.
The mass of a deuterium nucleus is
Add an electron mass to each side but ignore its binding energy symbol Atomic
N Z A
Z _
1H also called protium
md + me is the deuterium atom mass M(2H) and mp + me is the most common atomic hydrogen mass
Because the electron masses cancel in almost all nuclear-mass difference calculations, we use atomic masses rather than nuclear masses.
Convert this to energy using u = 931.5 MeV / c2.
Even for heavier nuclei we effectively neglect the electron binding energies (much larger than 13.6 eV) because the nuclear binding
2
The binding energy of any nucleus = the energy required to separate the nucleus into free neutrons and protons.
Experimental Determination of Nuclear Binding Energies
for the 2.22-MeV binding energy by using a nuclear reaction. We scatter gamma rays from free deuteron gas and look for the breakup of a
deuteron into a neutron and a proton:
This nuclear reaction is called photodisintegration or a photonuclear reaction.
The mass-energy relation is
where hf is the incident photon energy.
Kn and Kp are the neutron and proton kinetic energies, mn mass of neutron.
The Deuteron
The minimum energy required for the photodisintegration:
Momentum must be conserved in the reaction if Kn, Kp ≠ 0.
Experiment shows that a photon of energy less than 2.224 MeV ca nnot dissociate a deuteron.
Deuteron Spin and Magnetic Moment
Deuteron’s nuclear spin quantum number is 1, it’s a boson, this ind icates also the neutron and proton spins are aligned parallel to eac h other, add up
The nuclear magnetic moment of a deuteron is 0.86 μN ≈ the sum o f the free proton and neutron 2.79 μN − 1.91 μN = 0.88μN (difference
-
12.4: Nuclear Forces
Neutron + proton (np) and proton + proton (pp) elastic collisions.
The nuclear potential energy function for two particles, similar for
Very high density in the nucleolus, all nuclei are constantly moving about and scatter of reach other
Electrostatic hump
Nuclear Forces
The inter-nucleon potential has a “hard core” that prevents the nucleon s from approaching each other closer than about 0.4 fm.
The proton has “charge radius” of about 1 fm.
Two nucleons within about 2 fm of each other feel an attractive force.
The nuclear force (very short range):
It falls to zero abruptly with inter-particle separation.
The interior nucleons are completely surrounded by other nucleons wit h which they interact.
The nuclear potential between two nucleons is independent of their charge (charge independence of nuclear forces).
The major difference between the np and pp potentials is the Coulomb potential shown for r ≥ 3 fm for the pp force.
12.5: Nuclear Stability
The binding energy of a nucleus against dissociation into any other possible combination of nucleons.
Example nuclei R and S.
Proton (or neutron) separation energy:
The energy required to remove one proton (or neutron) from a nuclide.
All stable and unstable nuclei that are sufficiently long-lived to be observed.
Nuclear Stability
The line representing the stable nuclides is the line of stability.
It appears that for A ≤ 40, nature prefers the number of protons a nd neutrons in the nucleus to be about the same Z ≈ N.
However, for A ≥ 40, there is a decided preference for N > Z beca use the nuclear force is independent of whether the particles are nn, np, or pp.
As the number of protons increases, the Coulomb force between all the protons becomes stronger until it eventually affects the bin ding significantly.
Nuclear Stability
Most stable nuclides have both even Z and even N (even-even nuclides), e.g.
Only four stable nuclides have odd Z and odd N (odd-odd nuclides).
4He
2
The Liquid Drop Model
Treats the nucleus as a collection of interacting particles in a liquid drop.
The total binding energy, the semi-empirical mass formula (due to Weizäcker) is
The volume term (av) indicates that the binding energy is approximately the sum of all the interactions between the nucleons.
The second term is called the surface effect because the nucleons on the nuclear surface are not completely surrounded by other nucleons.
The third term is the Coulomb energy (4th and 5th term next slide)
The Liquid Drop Model
The fourth term is due to the so called “symmetry energy”. In the absenc e of Coulomb forces, the nucleus prefers to have N ≈ Z and has a quant um-mechanical origin, depending on the exclusion principle.
The last term is due to the pairing energy and reflects the fact that the nu cleus is more stable for even-even nuclides. Use values given by Fermi t o determine this term.
where Δ = 33 MeV·A−3/4.
No nuclide heavier than has been found on earth. If they ever exist ed, they must have decayed so quickly that quantities sufficient to meas ure no longer exist.
one low energy (room-temperature) neutron being absorbed by 235U, kaboom, and two to three more medium energy neutrons to make more “kabooms” if more fissionable uranium is around
Who is the greatest person that history has forgotten
?
Marc Morgenstern, lives in The Emerald City of Oz
Updated July 6, 2019 · Upvoted by Travis Perry, M.A. History, Wayland Baptist University (2020) and Brayden Swanson, Studied history extensively for six years You’ve probably never even heard of this man, but he’s responsible for saving billions of lives, as well as civilization as we know it:
This is Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov.
Petrov was a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defense Forces. On September 26, 1983, three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a USAF Minuteman missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to five more.
“If notification was received from the Russian early warning systems that inbound missiles had been detected, the Soviet Union's strategy was an immediate and compulsory nuclear counter-attack against the United States (launch on warning), specified in the doctrine of mutual assured destruction, or MAD.”
At the time, nuclear retaliation required that multiple sources confirm an attack before launching retaliatory strikes against the offending nation. Petrov knew that any nuclear strike from the US would be massive, and concluded that the system had triggered a false alarm, that no missiles had been launched from the U.S., and, disobeying orders from his superiors, stood down the retaliatory launch.
“It was subsequently determined that the false alarms were caused by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds and the satellites' Molniya orbits, an error later corrected by cross-referencing a geostationary satellite.”
Petrov’s quick thinking, as well as his refusal to obey orders, prevented what would have most assuredly been the start of World War III, a devastating nuclear
holocaust would have ensued, and billions of people might have died, as well as ending civilization as we know it on the Earth.
Petrov had, indeed, saved the world.
So why do we not hear more about this brave man? The glitches in the Soviets’
early-warning system embarrassed military higher ups, and the entire episode was kept quiet until the incident became known publicly in the 1990s upon the
publication of the memoirs of Colonel General Yuriy Vsyevolodich Votintsev, a
retired commander of the Soviet Air Defense's Missile Defense Units and the officer who had been in charge at the time of the incident.
“Petrov was neither rewarded nor punished for his actions, but was reassigned to a less sensitive post, took early retirement (although he emphasized that he was not "forced out" of the army, as is sometimes claimed by Western sources), and suffered a nervous breakdown.”
Petrov died on May 19, 2017, of hypostatic pneumonia at 77 years old.
Binding Energy Per Nucleon
Use this to compare the relative stability of different nuclides.
It peaks at A = 56.
The curve increases rapidly, demonstrating the saturation effect of nuclear force.
Sharp peaks for the even-even nuclides 4He, 12C, and 16O
tight bound.
Nuclear Models
Current research focuses on the constituent quarks and physicists have relied on a multitude of models to explain nuclear force behavior.
1) Independent-particle models:
The nucleons move nearly independently in a common nuclear potential. The shell model has been the most successful of these.
2) Strong-interaction models:
The nucleons are strongly coupled together. The liquid drop model has been successful in explaining nuclear masses as well as nuclear fission.
Nuclear Models
The difference of the shape between the proton and the neutron are due to the Coulomb interaction on the proton.
Nuclei have a Fermi energy level which is the highest energy level filled in the nucleus.
In the ground state of a nucleus, all the energy levels below the Fermi level are filled.
The nuclear potential felt by the neutron and the proton
Nuclear Models
Energy-level diagrams for 12C and 16O.
Both are stable because they are even-even.
Case 1: If we add one
proton to 12C to make unstable
Case 2: If we add one
neutron to 12C to make 13C: stable
Note that the p energy levels are higher
Filling up energy levels up to the Fermi level
Nuclear Models
when we add another neutron to produce 14C, we find it is unstable.
neutron energy levels are lower in energy than the corresponding proton ones.
1 Sv absorbed dose causes a fatal cancer many years later in 5 out of
accumulated per year
12.6: Radioactive Decay
An empirical law that is fulfilled only statistically
Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered polonium and radium in 1898.
The simplest decay form is that of a gamma ray, which represents the nucleu s changing from an excited state to lower energy state.
Other modes of decay include emission of α particles, β (– and +) particles, pr otons, neutrons, and fission.
The decays per unit time (activity).
where dN / dt is negative because total number N decreases with time.
Radioactive Decay
SI unit of activity is the Becquerel: 1 Bq = 1 decay / s.
In common use is the Curie (Ci) 3.7 × 1010 decays / s equivalent t o 1 g Ra (typically micro Ci to milli Ci)
If N(t) is the number of radioactive nuclei in a sample at time t, an d λ (decay constant) is the probability per unit time that any give n nucleus will decay:
If we set N(t = 0) ≡ N0
Radioactive Decay
The activity R is also
where R0 is the initial activity at t = 0.
half-life t1/2 or the “mean lifetime” τ are defined on basis of decay constant.
The half-life is
The mean lifetime is The time it takes to arrive at No/e
Radioactive Decay
The number of radioactive nuclei as a function of time
Radioactive Carbon Dating
Radioactive 14C is produced in our
atmosphere by the bombardment of 14N by neutrons produced by cosmic rays.
When living organisms die, their intake of 14C ceases, and the ratio of 14C / 12C decreases as 14C decays.
Because the half-life of 14C is 5,730 years, it is convenient to use the 14C / 12C ratio to
determine the age of objects over a range up to 45,000 years ago.
The period just before 9000 years ago had a higher 14C / 12C ratio by factor of about 1.5
r
Note that the total number of nucleons does not change
αdecay
When a nucleus decays, all the conservation laws must be observed:
Mass-energy
Linear momentum
Angular momentum
Electric charge
Conservation of nucleons
The total number of nucleons (A, the mass number) must be conserved in a typical (relatively low energy) nuclear reaction or decay.
12.7: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Decay
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Decay
Let the radioactive nucleus be called the parent and have the mass
Two or more products can be produced in the decay.
Let the original one be My (mother) and the mass of the subsequent one (daughter) be MD.
The conservation of energy is
where Q is the energy released (disintegration energy) and equal to the total kinetic energy of the reaction products.
If Q > 0, a nuclide is unstable and may decay.
If Q < 0, decays emitting nucleons do not occur.
Alpha Decay
The nucleus 4He has a binding energy of 28.3 MeV.
If two protons and two neutrons in a nucleus are bound by less than 28.3 MeV, then the emission of an alpha particle (alpha decay) is possible.
If Q > 0, alpha decay is possible.
The appropriate masses are
Is also a nucleus
Alpha Decay
In order for alpha decay to occur, two neutrons and two protons group together within the nucleus prior to decay and the alpha particle overcomes the nuclear attraction from the remaining nucleons and escapes through the potential energy barrier by tunneling.
Alpha Decay
The barrier height VB is greater than 20 MeV.
The kinetic energies of alpha particles emitted from nuclei range from 4-8 MeV.
It is impossible classically for the alpha particle to escape the nucleus, but the alpha particles are able to tunnel through
the barrier.
At higher energy, E2, α-particle h as much higher tunneling probab ility than at lower energy, E1, corr esponding to shorter lifetimes.
Alpha Decay
Assume the parent nucleus is initially at rest so that the total mome ntum is zero.
The final momenta of the daughter pD and alpha particle pα have th e same magnitude and opposite directions.
So all alpha particles have the about the same momentum and kinetic energy
Beta Decay
Unstable nuclei may move closer to the line of stability by
undergoing beta decay.
The decay of a free neutron is
The beta decay of 14C (unstable) to form 14N, a stable nucleus, can be written as
The electron energy spectrum from the beta decay
The electron does not exist in the nucleus, it is created from the energy that results from the decay (which is due to the weak force)
Beta Decay
There was a problem in neutron decay, the spin ½ neutron cannot decay to two spin ½ particles, a proton and an electron. 14C has spin 0, 14N has spin 1, and the electron has spin ½.
we cannot combine spin ½ & 1 to obtain a spin 0.
Wolfgang Pauli proposed a new particle, the neutrino, that must be produced in beta decay. It has spin quantum number ½, charge 0, and carries away the energy that is apparently missing in the fig.
in the previous slide
Momentum seemed not to be conserved either, so Pauli predicts a particle that must exist and carry away just the right amount of
energy so that momentum will also be conserved and everything is Oki-Doki again
Beta Decay
An occasional electron is detected with the kinetic energy close to the required Kmax (to conserve energy), but in most cases the
electron’s kinetic energy is less than Kmax.
the neutrino has very very very little mass, and most of its energy is kinetic.
Neutrinos have no charge and do not interact electromagnetically.
They are not affected by the strong force of the nucleus.
They are due to the weak interaction (result from the weak force).
The unification of the electromagnetic and weak force is the electroweak force.
β
-Decay
There are actually antineutrinos . (In beta-minus decay)
The beta decay of both a free neutron and 14C is written as
In the general beta decay of the parent nuclide to the daughter , the reaction is
The disintegration energy Q is
In order for β− to occur, we must have Q > 0.
The total number of nucleons A is constant, but Z charges to Z + 1.
Note that A is constant
β
+Decay
Is what happens for unstable nuclides with too many protons
Positive electron (positron) is produced.
Positron is the antiparticle of the electron.
A free proton might decay with t1/2 > 1032 y, nobody knows for sure
The nucleus 14O is unstable and decays by emitting a positron and a neutrino to become stable 14N.
The general β+ decay is
Electron Capture
Classically, inner K-shell and L-shell electrons are tightly bound a nd L-orbits are highly elliptical, possibility of atomic electron capt ure.
The reaction for a proton is p + e− n + v
The general reaction is
The disintegration energy Q is
Gamma Decay
If the decay proceeds to an excited state of energy Ex rather than to the ground state, then Q for the
transition to the excited state can be determined
with respect to the transition to the ground state. The
disintegration energy Q to the ground state Q0.
Q for a transition to the excited state Ex is
Gamma Decay
The excitation energies tend to be much larger, many keV or even MeV.
The possibilities for the nucleus to rid itself of this extra energy is to emit a very high energy photon (gamma ray).
The gamma-ray energy hf is given by the difference of the higher energy state E> and lower one E<.
The decay of an excited state of AX* (where * is an excited state) to its ground state is
A transition between two nuclear excited states E> and E< is
Gamma Decay
The gamma rays are normally emitted soon after a nucleus is put into an excited state.
Sometimes selection rules prohibit a certain transition, and the excited state may live for a long time.
These states are called isomers or isomeric states and are denoted by a small m for metastable.
Example: one state of at 0.271 MeV excitation energy does not gamma decay because of a large spin difference
transition.
12.8: Radioactive Nuclides
The unstable nuclei found in nature exhibit natural radioactivity.
All living people are
somewhat radioactive, e.g.
depending on how much NaCl they eat (it is obtained from mines, where there is some KCl present as well
Radioactive Nuclides
There are only four paths that the heavy naturally occurring radioactive nuclides may take as they decay.
Mass numbers expressed by either:
4n
4n + 1
4n + 2
4n + 3
All four paths lead to different types of isotopes of Pb
Radioactive Nuclides
The sequence of one of the radioactive series 232Th
212Bi can decay by either alpha or beta decay (branching).
Time Dating Using Lead Isotopes
A plot of the abundance ratio of 206Pb / 204Pb versus 207Pb / 204Pb can be a sensitive indicator of the age of lead ores. Such
techniques have been used to show that meteorites and the earth, believed to be left over from the formation of the solar system, are 4.55 billion years old.
symbol Atomic
N Z A
Z _
symbol Atomic
N Z A
Z _
Thermal Neutron Fission
Fission fragments are highly unstable because they are so neutron rich.
Prompt neutrons are emitted simultaneously with the fissioning process. Even after prompt neutrons are released, the fission fragments undergo beta decay, releasing more energy.
Most of the ~200 MeV released in fission goes to the kinetic energy of the fission products, but the neutrons, beta particles, neutrinos, and
gamma rays typically carry away 30–40 MeV of the kinetic energy.
Because several neutrons are produced in fission, these neutrons may subsequently
produce other fissions. This is the basis of the self-sustaining chain reaction.
If slightly more than one neutron, on the
average, results in another fission, the chain reaction becomes critical.
A sufficient amount of mass is required for a neutron to be absorbed (a statistical process), called the critical mass.
If less than one neutron, on the average, produces another fission, the reaction is subcritical.
If more than one neutron, on the average, produces another fission, the reaction is supercritical.
An atomic bomb is an extreme example of a
Chain Reactions
Chain Reactions
A critical fission reaction can be controlled by absorbing
neutrons. A self-sustaining controlled fission process requires that not all the neutrons are prompt. Some of the neutrons are delayed by several seconds and are emitted by daughter
nuclides. These delayed neutrons allow the control of the nuclear reactor.
Control rods regulate the absorption of neutrons to sustain a controlled reaction.
13.5: Fission Reactors
Several components are important for a controlled nuclear reactor:
1) Fissionable fuel
2) Moderator to slow down neutrons
3) Control rods for safety and to control criticality of reactor
4) Reflector to surround moderator and fuel in order to contain neutrons and thereby improve efficiency
5) Reactor vessel and radiation shield
6) Energy transfer systems if commercial power is desired
Two main effects can “poison”
reactors: (1) neutrons may be
absorbed without producing fission [for example, by neutron radiative capture], and (2) neutrons may escape from the fuel zone.
Core Components
Fission neutrons typically have 1–2 MeV of kinetic energy, and because the fission cross section increases as 1/v at low energies, slowing down the neutrons helps to increase the chance of producing another fission.
A moderator is used to elastically scatter the high-energy neutrons and thus reduce their energies. A neutron loses the most energy in a single collision with a light slow moving particle. Heavy hydrogen (in heavy water), carbon (graphite), and beryllium are all good moderators.
The simplest method to reduce the loss of neutrons escaping from the fissionable fuel is to make the fuel zone larger. The fuel elements are normally placed in regular arrays within the moderator.
Core Components
The delayed neutrons produced in fission allow the mechanical movement of the rods to control the fission reaction. A “fail-safe”
system automatically drops the control rods into the reactor in an emergency shutdown.
If the fuel and moderator are surrounded by a material with a very low neutron capture cross section, there is a reasonable chance that after one or even many scatterings, the neutron will be backscattered or
“reflected” back into the fuel area. Water is often used both as moderator and reflector.
The most common method is to pass hot water heated by the reactor through some form of heat exchanger.
In boiling water reactors (BWRs) the
moderating water turns into steam, which drives a turbine producing electricity.
In pressurized water reactors (PWRs) the moderating water is under high pressure and circulates from the reactor to an external
heat exchanger where it produces steam, which drives a turbine.
Boiling water reactors are inherently simpler than pressurized water reactors. However, the possibility that the steam driving the turbine may become radioactive is greater with the BWR. The two-step process of the PWR helps to isolate the power generation
Energy Transfer
Power reactors produce commercial electricity.
Research reactors are operated to produce high neutron fluxes for neutron-scattering experiments.
Heat production reactors supply heat in some cold countries.
Some reactors are designed to produce radioisotopes.
Several training reactors are located on college campuses.
Types of Reactors
Nuclear Reactor Problems
The danger of a serious accident in which radioactive elements are released into the atmosphere or groundwater is of great concern to the general public.
Thermal pollution both in the atmosphere and in lakes and rivers used for cooling may be a significant ecological problem.
A more serious problem is the safe disposal of the radioactive wastes produced in the fissioning process, because some fission fragments have a half-life of thousands of years.
Three widely publicized accidents at nuclear reactor facilities—one at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979, the others two at
Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 and Fukushima in Japan in 2011 — have significantly dampened the general public’s support for nuclear reactors.
Large expansion of nuclear power can succeed only if four critical problems are overcome: lower costs, improved safety, better nuclear waste management, and lower proliferation risk.
≈ 5,000 Bq
inside an healthy adult
Breeder Reactors
A more advanced kind of reactor is the breeder reactor, which produces more fissionable fuel than it consumes.
The chain reaction is:
The plutonium is easily separated from uranium by chemical means.
Fast breeder reactors have been built that convert 238U to 239Pu. The reactors are designed to use fast neutrons.
Breeder reactors hold the promise of providing an almost unlimited supply of fissionable material.
One of the downsides of such reactors is that plutonium is highly toxic, and there is concern about its use in “unauthorized” weapons
13.6: Fusion
If two light nuclei fuse together, they also form a nucleus with a larger binding energy per nucleon and energy is released. This reaction is called nuclear fusion.
The most energy is released if two isotopes of hydrogen fuse together in the reaction.
Formation of Elements
The proton-proton chain includes a series of reactions that starts with two protons and ends with an ordinary alpha particle.
As stars form due to gravitational attraction of interstellar matter, the heat produced by the attraction is enough to cause protons to
overcome their Coulomb repulsion and fuse by the following reaction:
The deuterons are then able to combine with 1H to produce 3He:
The 3He atoms can then combine to produce 4He:
As the reaction proceeds, however, the temperature increases, and eventually 12C nuclei are formed by a process that converts three 4He into 12C.
Another cycle due to carbon is also able to produce 4He. The series of reactions responsible for the carbon or CNO cycle are
Proton-proton and CNO cycles are the only nuclear reactions that can
Formation of Elements
Alpha Decay
From the conservation of energy and conservation of linear momentum, determine a unique energy for the alpha particle.
Sizes and Shapes of Nuclei
If we approximate the nuclear shape as a sphere,
The nuclear mass density is 2.3 × 1017 kg / m3.
The shape of the Fermi distribution
