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ﺑـﺴﻢ ﺍﻟﻠّﻪ
ESGEE-Oran
4−ième année Génie Mécanique - Énergétique
Course: Nuclear Energy
Part 1: Elements of Nuclear Reactor Physics
Chapter 2: Nuclear Processes
- Nuclear reactions
- Radioactive Decay
24/10/2024-07/11/2024
Problem Set 2
1. Complete the following nuclear reactions based on the conservation of nucleons:
92 U + n −→ (?),
(a) 238
7 N + n −→ (?) +1 H,
(b) 14 1
88 Ra −→ (?) +2 He,
(c) 226 4
(d) (?) −→90 Th +42 He.
230
2. (a) Identify the type of radioactive decay and the unknown in each of the following ra-
dioactive decay reactions, and
(b) calculate the total kinetic energy of all the decay products:
3. Calculate the Q value for reactions:
4 Be(α, n)6 C, 8 O(n, α)6 C and
9 12 16 13
92 U + n −→56 Ba +36 Kr + xn.
235 141 92
4. The decay constants for the three decay modes of the radioisotope 64 Cu are λβ + =
0.009497 h−1 , λβ − = 0.02129 h−1 and λEC = 0.02380 h−1 . What is:
(a) the fraction that disintegrates in unit time,
(b) the probability 64 Cu decays by β + emission and
(c) the maximum kinetic energy of the ejected positron?
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5. How long after a sample is placed in a reactor is it before the sample activity reaches
75% of the maximum activity? Assume the production of a single radionuclide species
at a constant rate of R0 s−1 and that there initially are no radionuclides in the sample
material.
6. Part of radioactive series which starts with 92 U
238
and ends with 82 Pb
206
is given below,
together with the half-life of each isotope:
92 U 92 U 90 Th 88 Ra → 86 Rn → 84 Po → ... → 82 Pb.
238 234 230
→ ... → → → 226 222 218 206
4.5×109 y 2.5×105 y 7.5×104 y 1620y 3.83d 3.05m stable
(a) A sample of ore contains all the isotopes in the above series in radioactive equilibrium.
If there is 1Kg of 238
92 U in the sample, how many atoms of 88 Ra would you expect to
226
find?
(b) Chemical methods are used to extract in pure form all the 226 88 Ra which is placed in a
sealed container. Make a sketch of how the number of 86 Rn atoms in the container will
222
vary during the next 20 days.
7. Polonium-210 decays to the ground state of 206 Pb by emisson of a 5.305 MeV α-particle
with a half-life of 138 days. What mass of 210 Po is required to produce 1 MW of thermal
energy from its radioactive decay?
8. A radioactive source is prepared by chemically separating 90 Sr from other elements.
Initially, the source contains only 90 Sr(T1/2 = 29.12y), but this radionuclide decays
to a radioactive daughter 90 Y(T1/2 = 64.0h), which, after some time, reaches secular
equilibrium with its parent. What is the time after the source is created that the activity
of the daughter 90 Y is within 5% of that of the parent?
9. The unstable isotope 107 Cd decays to a particular excited state of 107 Ag through three
different mechanisms:
(i) direct (K-)electron capture,
(ii) (K-)electron capture to a higher excited state of 107 Ag followed by the emission of
γ-ray photon of energy 0.846 MeV, and
(iii) positron emission of which the maximum kinetic energy being 0.320 MeV.
Find the recoil energies of the nuclei in the two electron capture processes.
10. Since the half-life of U-235 (7.13 × 108 y) is less than that of U-238 (4.51 × 109 y), the
isotopic abundance of U-235 has been steadily decreasing since the earth was formed
about 4.5 billion years ago. How long ago was the isotopic abundance of U-235 equal
to 3.0a%, the enrichment of the uranium used in many nuclear power plants.
11. The radioisotope 224 Ra decays by α emission primarily to the ground state of 220 Rn and
to the first excited state according to the radioactive decay diagram below. What are the
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energies of the two associated α particles?