Capture, neutron

Gadolinium has the highest thermal neutron capture cross-section of any known element (49,000 barns). 

Fm and heavier isotopes can be produced by intense neutron irradiation of lower elements, such as plutonium, using a process of successive neutron capture interspersed with beta decays until these mass numbers and atomic numbers are reached. 

Several portions of Section 4, Properties of Atoms, Radicals, and Bonds, have been significantly enlarged. For example, the entries under Ionization Energy of Molecular and Radical Species now number 740 and have an additional column with the enthalpy of formation of the ions. Likewise, the table on Electron Affinities of the Elements, Molecules, and Radicals now contains about 225 entries. The Table of Nuclides has material on additional radionuclides, their radiations, and the neutron capture cross sections. 

In the above examples the size of the chain can be measured by considering the number of automobile collisions that result from the first accident, or the number of fission reactions which follow from the first neutron capture. When we think about the number of monomers that react as a result of a single initiation step, we are led directly to the degree of polymerization of the resulting molecule. In this way the chain mechanism and the properties of the polymer chains are directly related. 

It is possible to prepare very heavy elements in thermonuclear explosions, owing to the very intense, although brief (order of a microsecond), neutron flux furnished by the explosion (3,13). Einsteinium and fermium were first produced in this way they were discovered in the fallout materials from the first thermonuclear explosion (the "Mike" shot) staged in the Pacific in November 1952. It is possible that elements having atomic numbers greater than 100 would have been found had the debris been examined very soon after the explosion. The preparative process involved is multiple neutron capture in the uranium in the device, which is followed by a sequence of beta decays. Eor example, the synthesis of EM in the Mike explosion was via the production of from followed by a long chain of short-Hved beta decays,... 

Determination of gold concentrations to ca 1 ppm in solution via atomic absorption spectrophotometry (62) has become an increasingly popular technique because it is available in most modem analytical laboratories and because it obviates extensive sample preparation. A more sensitive method for gold analysis is neutron activation, which permits accurate determination to levels < 1 ppb (63). The sensitivity arises from the high neutron-capture cross section (9.9 x 10 = 99 barns) of the only natural isotope, Au. The resulting isotope, Au, decays by P and y emission with a half-life of 2.7 d. 

The isotope molybdenum-99 is produced in large quantity as the precursor to technetium-99y, a radionucleide used in numerous medical imaging procedures such as those of bone and the heart (see Medical imaging technology). The molybdenum-99 is either recovered from the fission of uranium or made from lighter Mo isotopes by neutron capture. Typically, a Mo-99 cow consists of MoO adsorbed on a lead-shielded alumina column. The TcO formed upon the decay of Mo-99 by P-decay, = 66 h, has less affinity for the column and is eluted or milked and either used directly or appropriately chemically derivatized for the particular diagnostic test (100). 

In the evaluation of these parameters, the chain of plutonium isotopes produced and consumed must be taken into account. Successive neutron captures create plutonium-239, -240, -241, and -242. Isotopes having odd mass number are fissile, the others are not. 

Occurrence and Recovery. Rhenium is one of the least abundant of the naturally occurring elements. Various estimates of its abundance in Earth s cmst have been made. The most widely quoted figure is 0.027 atoms pet 10 atoms of silicon (0.05 ppm by wt) (3). However, this number, based on analyses for the most common rocks, ie, granites and basalts, has a high uncertainty. The abundance of rhenium in stony meteorites has been found to be approximately the same value. An average abundance in siderites is 0.5 ppm. In lunar materials, Re, when compared to Re, appears to be enriched by 1.4% to as much as 29%, relative to the terrestrial abundance. This may result from a nuclear reaction sequence beginning with neutron capture by tungsten-186, followed by p-decay of of a half-hfe of 24 h (4) (see Extraterrestrial materials). 

Isotope CAS Registry Number Occurrence, % Thermal neutron capture cross section, 10-" ... 

Various borate esters are chemostetilants for house flies (51). Tributyl borate, available from Eagle-Picher, Miami, Oklahoma, which is isotopically enriched in boron-10, is being used as a chemical precursor in the synthesis of pharmacologically active boron compounds suitable for boron neutron capture therapy. 

One of the most promising appHcations of polyboron hydride chemistry is boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for the treatment of cancers (253). Boron-10 is unique among the light elements in that it possesses an unusually high neutron capture nuclear cross section (3.8 x 10 , 0.02—0.05 eV... 

To date, the most extensively studied polyboron hydride compounds in BNCT research have been the icosahedral mercaptoborane derivatives Na2[B22H22SH] and Na [(B22H22S)2], which have been used in human trials with some, albeit limited, success. New generations of tumor-localizing boronated compounds are being developed. The dose-selectivity problem of BNCT has been approached using boron hydride compounds in combination with a variety of deUvery vehicles including boronated polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, porphyrins, amino acids, nucleotides, carbohydrates, and hposomes. Boron neutron capture therapy has been the subject of recent reviews (254). 

Polyhedral Boron Hydrides. These are used in neutron capture therapy of cancers (254), and as bum rate modifiers (accelerants) in gun and rocket propellant compositions. 

Metallacarboranes. These are used in homogeneous catalysis (222), including hydrogenation, hydrosilylation, isomerization, hydrosilanolysis, phase transfer, bum rate modifiers in gun and rocket propellants, neutron capture therapy (254), medical imaging (255), processing of radioactive waste (192), analytical reagents, and as ceramic precursors. 

H. Hatanaka, Boron-Neutron Capture Therapy for Tumors, Nishimura Co., Ltd., Niigata, Japan, 1986. 

Y. Mi shim a, The Second Japan-Mustralia International Workshop on Thermal Neutron Capture Therapyfor Malignant Melanoma, Vol. 2—4, Kobe, Japan, 1989, pp. 223-386. 

Amine boranes have been examined by a variety of spectroscopic methods (24—29). The boron-substituted alpha-amino acids have been utilized in animal model studies. These compounds along with their precursors and selected derivatives have been shown to possess antineoplastic, antiarthritic, and hypolipidemic activity (30—32). The boron amino acid analogues are also being evaluated for possible utility in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) (33). 

Graphite is chosen for use in nuclear reactors because it is the most readily available material with good moderating properties and a low neutron capture cross section. Other features that make its use widespread are its low cost, stabiHty at elevated temperatures in atmospheres free of oxygen and water vapor, good heat transfer characteristics, good mechanical and stmctural properties, and exceUent machinabUity. 

Neutron economy in graphite occurs because pure graphite has a neutron capture cross section of only 0.0032 0.002 x lO " cm. Taking into account the density of reactor grade graphite (bulk density 1.71 g/cm ), the bulk neutron absorption coefficient is 0.0003/cm. Thus a slow neutron may travel >32 m in graphite without capture. 

The only large-scale use of deuterium in industry is as a moderator, in the form of D2O, for nuclear reactors. Because of its favorable slowing-down properties and its small capture cross section for neutrons, deuterium moderation permits the use of uranium containing the natural abundance of uranium-235, thus avoiding an isotope enrichment step in the preparation of reactor fuel. Heavy water-moderated thermal neutron reactors fueled with uranium-233 and surrounded with a natural thorium blanket offer the prospect of successful fuel breeding, ie, production of greater amounts of (by neutron capture in thorium) than are consumed by nuclear fission in the operation of the reactor. The advantages of heavy water-moderated reactors are difficult to assess. 

The confinement region in which nuclear fusion proceeds is surrounded by a blanket in which the neutrons produced by the fusion reaction are captured to produce tritium. Because of its favorable cross section for neutron capture, lithium is the favored blanket material. Various lithium blanket... 

Production in Heavy Water Moderator. A small quantity of tritium is produced through neutron capture by deuterium in the heavy water used as moderator in the reactors. The thermal neutron capture cross section for deuterium is extremely small (about 6 x 10 consequendy the... 

It is important to note that the neutron capture probability, called the cross section a, is vasdy different for various elements. Excellent sensitivity for Au is due largely to its high cross section (a = 100 barns 1 barn = 1 x 10 cm ). Other elements, such as Pb, have low cross sections and much poorer detection limits. 

The basic requirements of a reactor are 1) fissionable material in a geometry that inhibits the escape of neutrons, 2) a high likelihood that neutron capture causes fission, 3) control of the neutron production to prevent a runaway reaction, and 4) removal of the heat generated in operation and after shutdown. The inability to completely turnoff the heat evolution when the chain reaction stops is a safety problem that distinguishes a nuclear reactor from a fossil-fuel burning power plant. 

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