A facility upgrade at Texas A&;M University for accelerated radioactive beams

The Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University is carrying out an upgrade project which will lead to accelerated radioactive ion beams at intermediate energies. The project involves recommissioning a K150 cyclotron for acceleration of stable beams which will be used to produce radioactive ions. Both light-ion and heavy-ion guides will be used to stop and transport the radioactive ions to a charge breeding electron cyclotron resonance ion source. Following charge breeding, highly-charged ions will be injected into the K500 cyclotron, accelerated and then transported to existing equipment to carry out experiments.     

Neutron-rich rare isotope production below the Fermi energy and its application to the Texas A&;M RIB upgrade

Recent efforts to produce and separate neutron-rich rare isotopes in peripheral collisions below the Fermi energy are presented. The experiments have been performed at the Cyclotron Institute of Texas A&M University employing beams from the K500 Superconducting Cyclotron. Two magnetic separators were used: the MARS recoil separator and the Superconducting Solenoid Line (BigSol Line). An enhanced production of neutron-rich nuclides in comparison with high-energy fragmentation mechanisms has been observed and attributed to the role of the N/Z and the nuclear periphery of the target. From a practical viewpoint, these reactions below or around the Fermi energy offer a novel way to access very neutron-rich rare isotopes. The experience obtained in the production of rare isotope beams (RIB) below the Fermi energy will be exploited in the ongoing RIB upgrade of the Cyclotron Institute that will involve production, stopping and reacceleration of rare isotopes.     

Multifoil UCx target for the SPES project --An update

The target system is one of the key issues for the facilities aimed at the production of neutron-rich radioactive ion beams. In the framework of the SPES project (Study for the Production of Exotic Species), the possibility of using a target configuration with a proton beam (40MeV, 0.2mA) directly impinging on multiple uranium carbide disks is investigated. The ²³⁸U fission fragments constitute the source for the exotic beams and for this purpose the disks are placed inside a graphite box at 2000 ^°C. The target is split into several thin disks in order to allow the cooling of the system by thermal radiation. In this way about ∼ 10¹³ fissions s ^-1 are obtained with a relative simple system and with relative low costs. Further steps have been performed compared to previous publications and now all the main parameters of the system have been analysed by means of calculation codes: the fission rates and the fission fragment distribution; the power deposition and the thermal analysis; the thermo-mechanical behaviours of the disks; the effusive and diffusive extraction release properties of the target.     

Prospects for exotic beam facilities in North America

There are several nuclear physics laboratories in North America that have on-going research using energetic and stopped radioactive beams. These include the large ISOL-type programs ISAC at TRIUMF and HRIBF at Oak Ridge and the in-flight fragmentation program at the NSCL of Michigan State University. There are also smaller, more specialized, programs using a variety of techniques at the 88-inch cyclotron of Berkeley, ATLAS at Argonne, the Cyclotron Institute of Texas A&M University, the Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Notre Dame University, and the Nuclear Structure Laboratory at SUNY/Stony Brook. There are also three projects on the horizon in North America for new capabilities in both the near term and more distant future. The intensities of the in-flight fragment beams at the NSCL will be increased dramatically very soon as the Coupled Cyclotron Project will be completed and commissioned for research by mid-2001. A new project, ISAC-II, has been approved in Canada. For the longer term, the United States is considering construction of a major new facility, the Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA), which would have a very high-intensity heavy-ion driver linac. The RIA facility is proposed to utilize both ISOL and in-flight production mechanisms. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Physical preseparation: A powerful new method for transactinide chemists

In recent years, the concept of physical preseparation of single atoms was introduced into the field of transactinide chemistry. In this approach, the transactinide element of interest is isolated in a physical recoil separator and then extracted from this machine. The beam as well as the unwanted reaction products are strongly suppressed, allowing for the investigation of new chemical systems that were not accessible before. The most important aspects of the technique are discussed and the advantages for chemistry experiments with transactinides are presented, using some of the chemical studies that were performed with preseparated isotopes as examples.     

Radioactive contamination of the environment as a result of uranium production: a case study at the abandoned Lincang uranium mine, Yunnan Province, China

The distribution of radioactive pollutants, such as ~(222)Rn, U, Th and ~(226)Ra in the air, sur-face waters, soils and crops around the Lincang uranium mine, Yunnan Province, China, is studiedThe mechanical, geochemical and biogeochemical processes responsible for the transport andfate of the radioactive elements are discussed based on the monitoring data. The pollutants con-centrations of effluents from the mine tunnels were dependent on pH and SO_4~(2-) which were con-trolled by biochemical oxidation of sulfide in the ore/host rocks. Radon anomalies in air reached 4km from the tailings pile depending on radon release from the site, topography and climate. ~(238)Uand ~(226)Ra abnormities in stream sediments and soil were 40-90 cm deep and 790-800 m awaydownstream. Anomalies of radioactive contaminants of surface watercourses extended 7.5-13km from the discharge of effluents of the site mainly depending on mechanical and chemical proc-esses. There were about 2.86 ha rice fields and 1.59 km stream sediments contaminated. Erosionof tailings and mining debris with little or no containment or control accelerated the contaminationprocesses.     

在线同位素分离装置的靶系统设计方法

产生放射性核束的在线同位素分离装置的靶系统设计是整个装置产生效率的关键环节.在ORNL的窄高斯分布的离子注入模型的基础上,研究了不同的靶的几何形状和尺寸、不同的温度条件、半衰期不同的放射性核素等对释放时间特性的影响,这对设计具有快速释放过程的靶系统,具有直接的实用价值.基于德国ZFK关于表面物理的实验测量数据,用MonteCarlo统计的方法来模拟放射性核素从靶材料表面到在线离子源的电离室的传输过程,对大量的放射性核素–传输管材料组合,和不同尺寸的传输管进行了统计计算,从这些统计计算中得到了可用于传输管工程设计的图表和经验公式.     

核反应总截面和奇异结构研究

本文总结了晕和皮等奇异核子结构研究的现状 ,介绍了发现晕和皮现象的实验证据。然后集中介绍了利用奇异核反应总截面的实验测量和理论模型 ,从中提取奇异核物质半径、核内核子分布以及介质中的核子 核子碰撞截面等重要信息 ,我们将特别强调通过实验测量和理论模型之间的联系来研究奇异结构性质。     

核事故应急决策中水体放射性核素扩散仿真分析

放射性核素浓度的确定是放射性事故应急救援和辐射防护等工作的基础和前提,是放射性事故应急救援的重要组成部分.在一维扩散模型的基础上,建立了放射性核素瞬时污染点源三维扩散模型、连续污染点源三维扩散模型、连续污染点源三维扩散稳态模型,并编写程序,实现了对放射性核素污染扩散的快速仿真分析,较好模拟了水体中放射性核素的扩散趋势.研究结果在核事故应急救援过程中,可为相关部门制定救援方案及应急决策提供科学依据.     

水下切伦科夫光光斑的蒙特卡罗模拟

分别采用分出截面法和积累因子法计算了水下放射性源透过一次屏蔽体的中子与射线的剂量场分布,并在这些分布条件下,利用Geant4软件射线在穿越二次屏蔽体后继而穿越后续水层,计算出在3 m水层中产生的切伦科夫(Cherenkov)光通量分布和光谱分布。以纯水为传播介质,在考虑Cherenkov光在不同水层中传播所造成的几何衰减和水层吸收等因素后,由计算获得了Cherenkov光光斑大小和强度分布。