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Neutron capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus. [1] Since neutrons have no electric charge, they can enter a nucleus more easily than positively charged protons , which are repelled electrostatically .
Neutron capture nucleosynthesis describes two nucleosynthesis pathways: the r-process and the s-process, for rapid and slow neutron captures, respectively. R-process describes neutron capture in a region of high neutron flux , such as during supernova nucleosynthesis after core-collapse, and yields neutron-rich nuclides .
The slow neutron-capture process, or s-process, is a series of reactions in nuclear astrophysics that occur in stars, particularly asymptotic giant branch stars. The s -process is responsible for the creation ( nucleosynthesis ) of approximately half the atomic nuclei heavier than iron .
Pu-239 is produced artificially in nuclear reactors when a neutron is absorbed by U-238, forming U-239, which then decays in a rapid two-step process into Pu-239. [22] It can then be separated from the uranium in a nuclear reprocessing plant. [23] Weapons-grade plutonium is defined as being predominantly Pu-239, typically about 93% Pu-239. [24]
In nuclear astrophysics, the rapid neutron-capture process, also known as the r-process, is a set of nuclear reactions that is responsible for the creation of approximately half of the atomic nuclei heavier than iron, the "heavy elements", with the other half produced by the p-process and s-process.
Part of the Chart of Nuclides showing some stable or nearly-stable s-, r-, and p-nuclei. The classical, ground-breaking works of Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle (1957) [1] and of A. G. W. Cameron (1957) [2] showed how the majority of naturally occurring nuclides beyond the element iron can be made in two kinds of neutron capture processes, the s- and the r-process.
On March 8, Hans von Halban, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Lew Kowarski, and Francis Perrin submit for publication the first net neutron production in an atomic pile. [19] The experiment in Ivry-sur-Seine, Paris uses a 50-cm copper sphere filled with a uranyl nitrate water solution and a radium-beryllium neutron source.
The boundaries of this valley are the neutron drip line on the neutron-rich side, and the proton drip line on the proton-rich side. [2] These limits exist because of particle decay, whereby an exothermic nuclear transition can occur by the emission of one or more nucleons (not to be confused with particle decay in particle physics).