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Neptunium has also been used in detectors of high-energy neutrons. The longest-lived isotope of neptunium, neptunium-237, is a by-product of nuclear reactors and plutonium production. This isotope, and the isotope neptunium-239, are also found in trace amounts in uranium ores due to neutron capture reactions and beta decay. [7]
Neptunium-239 has 146 neutrons and a half-life of 2.356 days. It is produced via β − decay of the short-lived uranium-239 , and undergoes another β − decay to plutonium-239 . This is the primary route for making plutonium, as 239 U can be made by neutron capture in uranium-238 .
Uranium from natural sources is enriched by isotope separation, and plutonium is produced in a suitable nuclear reactor. Experiments have been conducted with uranium-233 (the fissile material at the heart of the thorium fuel cycle). Neptunium-237 and some isotopes of americium might be usable, but it is not clear that this has ever been ...
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.
While the difficulty of obtaining macroscopic samples of synthetic elements in part explains their high value, there has been interest in converting base metals to gold (Chrysopoeia) since ancient times, but only deeper understanding of nuclear physics has allowed the actual production of a tiny amount of gold from other elements for research ...
Historically, most plutonium-238 has been produced by Savannah River in their weapons reactor, by irradiating neptunium-237 (half life 2.144 Ma) with neutrons. [7] 237 93 Np + n → 238 93 Np. Neptunium-237 is a by-product of the production of plutonium-239 weapons-grade material, and when the site was shut down in 1988, 238 Pu was mixed with ...
A minor actinide is an actinide, other than uranium or plutonium, found in spent nuclear fuel.The minor actinides include neptunium (element 93), americium (element 95), curium (element 96), berkelium (element 97), californium (element 98), einsteinium (element 99), and fermium (element 100). [2]
Actinium-225 is part of the 4n +1 chain (the neptunium series). Actinium-225 has a half-life of 10 days and decays by alpha emission. It is part of the neptunium series, for it arises as a decay product of neptunium-237 and its daughters such as uranium-233 and thorium-229.