Primary result of ~(236)U measurement with accelerator mass spectrometry at CIAE

The rare isotope 236U has a half-life of 2.342(3)×107 years,and is produced principally by thermal neutron capture on 235U.The isotopic atom ratio of 236U/238U depends on the integral thermal neutron flux received by the material of interest.236U is potentially useful as a "fingerprint" for indicating the presence of neutron-irradiated uranium usually originating from nuclear activity.By extracting negative molecular ion UO- from the uranium oxide target,simulating the 236U16O- beam transport with 238U16O- and 208Pb12 6O- pilot molecular ion beam,transporting the 236U-containing ion beam with a high resolution injection magnet analyzer and electrostatic analyzer system,and finally identifying and detecting 236U with a time-of-flight detector(TOF),a method for AMS(Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) measurement of 236U was established on the HI-13 Accelerator AMS system at China Institute of Atomic Energy.     

Isotope shift and hyperfine structure of the highly excited atomic uranium

The laser induced fluorescence method using atomic beam combined with Doppler-free two-photon absorption technique was applied for the measurement of isotope shifts and hyperfine structures of atomic uranium including ²³⁴U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁶U and ²³⁸U isotopes. The isotope shifts between ²³⁸U-²³⁴U, ²³⁸U-²³⁵U, ²³⁸U-²³⁶U, and the hyperfine structure of ²³⁵U were obtained in the high lying odd levels around 4 eV. Received 3 December 2001 / Received in final form 4 July 2002 Published online 29 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: oba@analchem.tokai.jaeri.go.jp     

Cross section for the subthreshold fission of 236U

The cross section for ²³⁶U fission in the neutron-energy range E _n = 0.001–20 keV was measured by using the INR RAS (Institute of Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) LSDS-100 neutron spectrometer of the lead slowing-down spectrometer type. The resonance fission areas of the resonances at 5.45 eV and 1.28 keV were found, and the fission widths of these resonances were evaluated. The cross section for the ²³⁸U(n, f) fission process was measured, and the threshold sensitivity of the LSDS-100 to small values of fission cross sections was estimated. The well-known intermediate structure in the cross section for the neutron-induced subbarrier fission of ²³⁶U was confirmed.     

Nuclear charge radii changes of uranium and hafnium isotopes determined by laser spectroscopy

The present work reports measurements of isotope shifts and hyperfine structure in the optical spectra of two high-Z elements: Hf and U. The experiments are based on the observation of the resonance fluorescence in a well collimated atomic beam, excited by a tunable dye laser. The chains of the stable Hf isotopes and of^{233–236, 238}U have been investigated and changes in ms nuclear charge radii have been deduced. The results have been discussed from the point of view of nuclear structure in the investigated regions.     

236U及其加速器质谱（AMS）测量

236U是一种长寿命放射性核素, 其半衰期为T_1/2=2.342(3)×107 a, 在自然界的含量极微, 天然铀中 236U/238U的原子比约为～10-14。 目前, 对于236U及其测量的研究报道较少。首先介绍了236U的产生, 并对地球中 236U的总量进行了估算。 概述了236U测定在亿年级中子注量率积分评估、 核环境和核活动监测, 以及地质学等领域中的重要应用。 最后,对国内外加速器质谱（AMS）测量236U的状况进行了综述,报道了中国原子能科学研究院AMS小组通过对同位素干扰鉴别的多方面研究, 初步建立了236UAMS测量方法。 236U is a longlived radionuclide with half life of 2.342(3)×107 a. The ratio of 236U/238U is about 10-14 in the natural Uranium. The origin and production of 236U in globe are introduced and estimated in this paper,respectively. The major applicationsion of 236U as a 100 million year neutron flux integrator,as a “fingerprint” for monitoring nuclear environment and nuclear activity,and as a tracer in geological studies are briefly summarized. The accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS) measurement of 236U in the world and the research on HI 13 tandem accelerator at China Institute of Atomic Energy(CIAE) is also mentioned in this paper.     

Measurement of uranium and its isotopes at trace levels in environmental samples using mass spectrometry

Actinides have widely entered the environment as a result of nuclear accidents and atmospheric weapon testing. These radionuclides, especially uranium, are outstanding radioactive pollutants, due to their high radiotoxicity and long half-lives. In addition to this, since depleted uranium (DU) has been used in the Balkan conflict in 1999, there has been a concern about the possible consequences of its use for the people and environment. Therefore, accurate, precise and simple determination methods are necessary in order to evaluate the human dose and the concentration and effects of these nuclides in the environment. The principal isotopes of uranium e.g. ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U are of primordial origin and ²³⁴U present in radioactive equilibrium with ²³⁸U. ²³⁶U occurs in nature at ultra trace concentrations with a ²³⁶U: ²³⁸U atom ratio of 10⁻¹⁴. Concentrations of uranium in soil samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and isotope ratios of uranium were measured using a thermal ionisation mass spectrometer. Radioactive dis-equilibrium of ²³⁴/²³⁸U, depletion of ²³⁵/²³⁸U and significant evidence of ²³⁶U/²³⁸U were noticed in soil samples.      

Primary result of ^236U measurement with accelerator mass spectrometry at CIAE

The rare isotope ^236U has a half-life of 2.342（3）×107 years, and is produced principally by thermal neutron capture on ^235U. The isotopic atom ratio of ^236U/^238U depends on the integral thermal neutron flux received by the material of interest. ^236U is potentially useful as a ＂fingerprint＂ for indicating the presence of neutron-irradiated uranium usually originating from nuclear activity. By extracting negative molecular ion UO^- from the uranium oxide target, simulating the ^236U^16O^- beam transport with ^238U^16O^- and ^208Pb2^16O^- pilot molecular ion beam, transporting the ^236U-containing ion beam with a high resolution injection magnet analyzer and electrostatic analyzer system, and finally identifying and detecting ^236U with a time-of-flight detector （TOF）, a method for AMS （Accelerator Mass Spectrometry） measurement of ^236U was established on the HI-13 Accelerator AMS system at China Institute of Atomic Energy.     

Electrofission of 234U, 236U and 238U: Angular distributions and E2 strength functions

The electrofission angular distributions for ²³⁴U in the energy range 5.5 to 25 MeV were measured and are analyzed together with those obtained previously for ²³⁶U and ²³⁸U. The competition between the K = 0 and K = 1 fission channels following E2 excitation is established, showing a dominance of the K = 0 channel for near-barrier fission. The E2 fission strength functions for ²³⁴U, ²³⁶U and ²³⁸U are deduced as well, and the E2 fission probabilities (at energies below the pairing gap) are estimated. A substantial concentration of E2 strength near the fission barrier is found, in good agreement with earlier photofission angular-distribution studies.     

Energy levels in even actinide isotopes from (t,p) reactions

Energy levels in^{232, 234}Th,^{236, 238, 240}U and in²⁵⁰Cm have been measured using the (t, p) reaction. Angular distributions were obtained for the^{234, 238}U targets and evidence for second order effects in the direct reaction mechanism was found.     

平均场加区分质子和中子的邻近轨道对力模型及对超铀区核的统一描述

利用严格可解的平均场加区分质子和中子的邻近轨道相互作用对力模型,对超铀区部分大形变核进行了统一的描述.计算了^227—233Th,^232—239U,^236—243Pu同位素和同中异质素²²⁸Ra-²²⁹Ac-²³⁰Th-²³¹Pa-²³²U,²³²Th-²³³Pa-²³⁴U-²³⁵Np-²³⁶Pu,²³⁶U-²³⁷Np-²³⁸Puv-²³⁹Am的结合能,对激发能和奇偶能差并与相应核的实验值进行了比较     

Photofission of nuclei with allowance for wriggling vibrations of fissioning nuclei

It is confirmed that one source of the large relative orbital momenta L of fragments in spontaneous and stimulated low-energy nuclear fission is quantum transverse zero-point wriggling vibrations of the fissioning system near its scission point. The angular distributions of fragments of low-energy photofission of actinide nuclei, calculated using the quantum theory of fission, are compared. Vibrations are allowed for by using parameter C _w determined by Nix and Swiatecki. Agreement between the experimental and theoretical angular distributions for ²³⁴U, ²³⁶U, ²³⁸U, ²³⁸Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu, ²⁴²Pu nuclei is observed. The strong sensitivity of the theoretical angular distributions for ²³⁸Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu, ²⁴²Pu nuclei toward the choice of parameters of transient fissioning states at the external and internal fission barriers is demonstrated.     

Hyperfine structure and isotope shift measurements on 235U and laser separation of uranium isotopes by two-step photoionization

Two-step photoionization of an atomic beam and quadrupole mass analysis have been used for the precise measurement of the isotope shift between uranium isotopes 235 and 238 and the hyperfine structure of ²³⁵U. For the 5915 Å ground-state transition 15 hfs components were found. The residual atomic beam was isotopically enriched by factors 2.5 and 10 for ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U, respectively.     

贫铀球壳中D-T中子诱发的铀反应率的测量与分析

为校验次临界能源堆的概念设计,在R19.4/30.0 cm的贫铀球壳装置上采用活化法开展14 MeV中子学积分实验.布放6片贫铀活化片于球壳中与入射D离子束90°方向上的不同位置处活化,用HPGe探测器测量238U(n,γ)反应、238U(n,f)及235U(n,f)反应和238U(n,2n)各反应产物发射的特征γ射线,得到了相应的反应率.238U(n,γ)反应率的不确定度为3.6％-3.7％,238U(n,D和235U(n,f)反应率的不确定度为5.1％-5.9％,238U(n,2n)反应率的不确定为4.3％-4.7％.用MCNP5程序在ENDF66c数据库下进行模拟计算,238U(n,γ)反应率的计算值/实验值(C/E)为0.972-1.034,238U(n,f)和235U(n,f)反应率的C/E为0.983-1.058,238U(n,2n)反应率的C/E为0.979-1.019.     

Effect of differences in proton and neutron density distributions on fission barriers

The neutron and proton density distributions obtained in constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov calculations with the Gogny force along the fission paths of 232Th, 236U, 238U, and 240Pu are analyzed. Significant differences in the multipole deformations of neutron and proton densities are found. The effect on potential energy surfaces and on barrier heights is studied under an additional constraint by imposing similar spatial distributions to neutrons and protons, as assumed in macroscopic-microscopic models.     

236U and 238U fission induced by linearly polarized photons in the region of a giant dipole resonance

The asymmetry Σ in ²³⁶U and ²³⁸U photofission induced by linearly polarized photons obtained by passing electrons through a silicon crystal under conditions close to the conditions of planar channeling is measured. This asymmetry is found to depend on the mass of the nucleus. The measured asymmetry is compared with data from other studies performed either with a polarized or an unpolarized photon beam. It is shown that the asymmetry value cannot be explained by a dominant role of any of the dipole fission channels, but that it is in accord with the currently prevalent idea that E1 transitions play the most important part in the energy region under investigation. It is assumed that the asymmetry Σ is sensitive to the relative height of the inner and the outer hump of the fission barrier, and this is manifested in the distinctions between the asymmetry values for nuclei having the same Z.     

Subthreshold photofission of even-even nuclei

Within quantum-mechanical fission theory, the angular distributions of fragments originating from the subthreshold photofission of the even-even nuclei ²³²Th, ²³⁴U, ²³⁶U, ²³⁸U, ²³⁸Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu, and ²⁴²Pu are analyzed for photon energies below 7 MeV. Special features of various fission channels are assessed under the assumption that the fission barrier has a two-humped shape. It is shown that the maximum value of the relative orbital angular momentum L _m of fission fragments can be found upon taking into account deviations from the predictions of A. Bohr’s formula for the angular distributions of fission fragments. The result is L _m ≈ 30. The existence of an “isomeric shelf” for the angular distributions of fragments from ²³⁶U and ²³⁸U photofission in the low-energy region is confirmed.     

RIKEN 18GHzECR离子源上金属离子的产生

At RIKEN,three ECR ion sources(10GHz ECRIS,18GHz ECRIS and liquid He-free SC-ECRIS) are operated as external ion sources of heavy ion accelerators.In the last year,multi-charged uranium ion beam was produced from 18GHz ECRIS by using UF_6 and the ~(238)U ion was successfully accelerated by the accelerator complex which consists of the RFQ linear accelerator,RIKEN heavy ion linear accelerator(RILAC)and RIKEN ring cyclotron accelerator(RRC).The typical beam intensity of~(238)U~(14 ) was about 2pμA on faraday cup after analysing magnet.~(70)Zn beam was still supplied for the new super-heavy element search experiment with insertion method.Intense beam of~(70)Zn~(16 ) was produced for long term(～43 days)without vacuum break and remarkably low material consumption rate(～100μgr/h).We already supplied Zn beam longer than 200 days for this experiment.~(48)Ca ion was also produced by insertion method using~(48)CaO rod for the nuclear physics experiment.In this contribution,we will present ion source parameter and techniques for production of each of the metal ions.     

Measurement and analysis of the 238U(n, 2n) reactionrate in depleted uranium/polyethylene shells

In order to check the conceptual design of the subcritical blanket in a fusion-fission hybrid reactor, a depleted uranium/polyethylene simulation device with alternate shells has been established. The measurement of the ²³⁸U(n, 2n) reaction rate was carried out using an activation technique, by measuring the 208 keVγ rays emitted from ²³⁷U. The self-absorption of depleted uranium foils with different thicknesses was experimentally corrected. The distribution of the ²³⁸U(n, 2n) reaction rate at 90° to the incident D⁺ beam was obtained, with uncertainty between 5.3% and 6.0%. The experiment was analyzed using MCNP5 code with the ENDF/BVI library, and the calculated results are all about 5% higher than the measured results.     

The decay of uranium shape isomers investigated by photonuclear reactions

The half-life of the ²³⁸U shape isomer and its yield ratio in a (γ, γ') reaction have been measured by pulsed beam techniques at a bremsstrahlung endpoint energy of 12 MeV. From the results $\text{(T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 146 ± 22}\text{ns}\text{, Y}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>iso</mtext>}}\text{/Y}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>pr</mtext>}}\text{= (6.6 ± 1.0) × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?6}}\text{)}$ the isomeric fission cross section has been deduced. Combining this information with the results of a previous ²³⁸U(γ, xnγ) study, an upper limit for the branching ratio Γ_γ/Γ_f|II < 13 for the decay of ^238mU can be obtained. The decay properties of the ²³⁶U and ²³⁸U shape isomers are discussed.     

HIRFL-CSR实验环中束流损失机制及寿命研究

分析了在储存环中回旋的离子束与残余气体分子、 内靶和冷却电子束相互作用时的损失机制及相应的束流寿命, 针对兰州重离子加速器冷却储存环实验环内靶模式, 计算了50—500 MeV/u 12C6+, 36Ar18+, 132Xe54+和 238U92+等束流在各种损失机制影响下所对应的束流寿命和总的束流寿命。 结果表明: 影响束流寿命的主要因素是与内靶分子（原子）之间的电荷交换及与冷却电子束之间的辐射复合; 对于重离子束 132Xe54+和 238U92+, 与冷却电子束之间的辐射复合是影响其储存寿命的主要因素。The loss mechanism and lifetime of ion beams in collisions with residual gas, internal target and electrons in e cooler in heavy ion cooler storage rings were studied. The partial beam lifetimes resulting from various loss mechanisms and the total beam lifetimes of 50—500 MeV/u12C6+, 36Ar18+, 132Xe54+ and 238U92+ stored in the experimental ring of the Cooler Storage Ring at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL CSR) were calculated. The calculations indicate that the charge exchange process between ion beams and the internal target, as well as the radiative recombination process with the electrons in e cooler restrict the beam lifetime considerably. For heavy ion beams such as 132Xe54+ and 238U92+, the radiative recombination is the dominant loss mechanism