Tritium and Carbon 14 are both nuclides that decay by beta emission. Show the de
ID: 509187 • Letter: T
Question
Tritium and Carbon 14 are both nuclides that decay by beta emission. Show the decay equations. Co 60 and Tc 99 are both nuclides used in nuclear medicine. Explain how they are made and what they can be used for. Nuclear decay (radioactivity is much different than fission or fusion. Explain the process of nuclear power (fission) production using Uranium. (Include mining, refining and enrichment, nuclear fission reactions, and waste produced). What is different about making electricity versus an atomic bomb through fission of Uranium? With what you have learned can electrical production and nuclear weapons be separated? Is nuclear power ethical?Explanation / Answer
31H(T) ---------> 23He+ -1e0
146C--------> 714N+ -1e0
Co 60 production
Cobalt-60 is produced by (n,) reaction on the mono-nuclidic 59Co target (cross section = 36 barns) in a nuclear reactor . The half life of 60Co is 5.27 years.
It is used on external beam radiotherapy for killing various types of cancer cells (tumor cells).
Tc 99
Tc 99 is produced from Tc 99m.
99mTc is widely used for diagnostic studies in nuclear medicine. It is produced by irradiating 99Mo in a nuclear reactor. 99mTc has half life of 6.01 hrs and is work horse in nuclear medicine. It is used for the identification of various types of cancer in human body.
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Uranium can undergo fission (splitting of nuclei) by thermal neutrons. This is accompained by huge amount of energy. Each fission of uranium nuclei produce 200 MeV of energy. The isotopes of uranium which can undergo fission with thermal neutons (fissile nuclei) are 235U and 233U. The amount of 235U available in nature is meager. The natural uranium contains 0.07% of 235U and the rest is 238U which is called fertile nuclei (which can be converted to fissile nuclei in a nuclear reactor).
The controlled nuclear reaction gives energy which can be harnessed and this is what happens in a nuclear reactor. If the reaction is not controlled we end up with a nuclear bomb. Both of these require fissile 235U nuclei or other fissile nuclei.
The steps involved in a nuclear fuel cycle are
1. Mining: Separation of uranium from its ores by various processes.
2. Refining: Purification of uranium to the desired level so that it can be used in a nuclear reaction (in a nuclear reactor).
3. Enrichment: Increasing the percentage of 235U (to range of 4-5%) by various methods like diffusion, centrifugation etc.
4. After fabrication in the form of pellets or slugs these are loaded in a reaction for fissioning. After a sufficient time, the fuel is removed (discharged).
5. Waste management: The discharged fuel is stored for further action in a isolated loactions. Some countries do the reprocessing to separate plutonium (which is produced from 238U by neutron capture) from the used fuel. The plutonium can be used in fast reactors or for the defence purposes.
The peaceful applicaiton of uranium is in the production of electricity. The uranium fission can also be used for making atomic bombs. The peacful applicatons is the controlled fission of the uranium nuclei whereas the later is the uncontrolled nuclear fission.
The reqirement for nuclear weapons is different from nuclear reactor. The requirement of nuclear weapons is an enrichment of 235U to above 90% , whereas the usage as a fuel in a nuclear reactor requries 4-5% of enrichment.
The nuclear power is ethical and usage on human beings is unethical (which happend in Hiroshima and Nagasaki). In fact this form of energy is must for future generations as we will exaust all perishable sources of energy like coal, petrol and gas in a few decades. The judicious usage of nuclear energy with fast reactors and throium based fuel can keep the world going for few hundred years before other forms of energy becomes cheap and viable.
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