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Neutron radiation is a form of ionizing radiation that presents as free neutrons.Typical phenomena are nuclear fission or nuclear fusion causing the release of free neutrons, which then react with nuclei of other atoms to form new nuclides—which, in turn, may trigger further neutron radiation.
237 Np is the product of alpha decay of 241 Am, which is produced through neutron irradiation of uranium-238. [28] Heavier isotopes of neptunium decay quickly, and lighter isotopes of neptunium cannot be produced by neutron capture, so chemical separation of neptunium from cooled spent nuclear fuel gives nearly pure 237 Np. [28]
U-233 is produced from thorium-232 by neutron capture. [19] The U-233 produced thus does not require enrichment and can be relatively easily chemically separated from residual Th-232. It is therefore regulated as a special nuclear material only by the total amount present.
Neutron activation is the process in which neutron radiation induces radioactivity in materials, and occurs when atomic nuclei capture free neutrons, becoming heavier and entering excited states. The excited nucleus decays immediately by emitting gamma rays , or particles such as beta particles , alpha particles , fission products , and ...
is the only neptunium isotope produced in significant quantity in the nuclear fuel cycle, both by successive neutron capture by uranium-235 (which fissions most but not all of the time) and uranium-236, or (n,2n) reactions where a fast neutron occasionally knocks a neutron loose from uranium-238 or isotopes of plutonium. Over the long term, 237 Np
Fission product yields by mass for thermal neutron fission of U-235 and Pu-239 (the two typical of current nuclear power reactors) and U-233 (used in the thorium cycle). This page discusses each of the main elements in the mixture of fission products produced by nuclear fission of the common nuclear fuels uranium and plutonium.
Decay: Outside the nucleus, free neutrons are unstable and have a mean lifetime of 885.7 ± 0.8 s (about 14 minutes, 46 seconds). [1] Free neutrons decay by emission of an electron and an electron antineutrino to become a proton, a process known as beta decay: [2] n 0 → p + + e − + ν e. Although the p + and e −
Irradiation is the process by which an object is exposed to radiation. An irradiator is a device used to expose an object to radiation, [ 1 ] most often gamma radiation , [ 2 ] for a variety of purposes.