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    Decay Rates and Half Lives

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    Saad Butt
    1) Radioactive nuclei decay at a constant statistical rate that depends only on the number of nuclei present, not other factors like temperature or pressure. 2) The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for half of the nuclei to decay. 3) Neutrons produced in fission have a wide range of energies. Moderators like water or graphite are used to slow fast neutrons down to thermal energies needed to sustain a nuclear reaction.

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    Decay Rates and Half Lives

    Uploaded by

    Saad Butt
    21 views26 pages
    1) Radioactive nuclei decay at a constant statistical rate that depends only on the number of nuclei present, not other factors like temperature or pressure. 2) The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for half of the nuclei to decay. 3) Neutrons produced in fission have a wide range of energies. Moderators like water or graphite are used to slow fast neutrons down to thermal energies needed to sustain a nuclear reaction.

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    Lecture 10.pptx

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    1) Radioactive nuclei decay at a constant statistical rate that depends only on the number of nuclei present, not other factors like temperature or pressure. 2) The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for half of the nuclei to decay. 3) Neutrons produced in fission have a wide range of energies. Moderators like water or graphite are used to slow fast neutrons down to thermal energies needed to sustain a nuclear reaction.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    21 views26 pages

    Decay Rates and Half Lives

    Uploaded by

    Saad Butt
    1) Radioactive nuclei decay at a constant statistical rate that depends only on the number of nuclei present, not other factors like temperature or pressure. 2) The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for half of the nuclei to decay. 3) Neutrons produced in fission have a wide range of energies. Moderators like water or graphite are used to slow fast neutrons down to thermal energies needed to sustain a nuclear reaction.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Decay rates and half lives

    If there is a large number of radioactive


    nuclei of the same kind, there is a definite
    statistical probability that a certain
    fraction will decay in certain time.
    The rater of decay is a function only of
    the number of nuclei present at that time.
    Decay rate does not depend on the
    pressure, temperature, state (gas, liquid
    or solid) of the radioisotopes

    Half life 1/2


    The time during which one-half of the
    number of radioisotope nuclei decay
    or one-half of their Activity ceases

    Neutron Energies
    Neutron kinetic energy is given as

    In fission reaction, neutrons are born


    The newly born neutron have energies ranging from .
    075 MeV to 17 MeV
    When neutrons travel through matter they give
    up/loose some energy due to collision with lighter
    nuclei and slow down. This process is called scattering
    According to their energies neutrons are classified into
    three groups
    1. Fast (> 105 eV)
    2. Intermediate
    3. Slow (< 1 eV)
    Nuclear reactors are classified according to the
    speed/energy of neutrons used for fission reaction
    4. Fast reactor (utilize fast neutrons)
    5. Thermal Reactors utilize slow/Thermal neutrons

    Thermal neutrons
    Moderators are used to slow down neutrons born
    from fission reactions
    Moderators have small nuclei with low neutron
    absorption ability and high neutron scattering
    capability
    Hydrogen and Deuterium (in H 2O or D2O),
    C (Graphite) and Be or BeO are used as
    moderators
    Thermal neutrons reach the lowest energies that
    put them in Thermal equilibrium with moderator
    molecules.

    Fission reactor types


    In fission reaction one neutron is absorbed and two
    or three fast neutrons are produced
    Number of new neutrons are represented by
    U238 (more than 99 %) is fissionable to fast
    neutrons only
    U235 is fissionable to all energies neutrons
    After fission the neutrons have different energies
    (may be fast or slow)
    Sustained nuclear reaction is impossible with
    Natural (mostly U238 ) uranium
    Fuel enrichment is done (enrich natural uranium to
    U235 )

    The percent composition of uranium-235 has been


    increased through the process of
    isotope separation
    Centrifuge technique is used for U235 enrichment
    Uranium is enriched in the form of gas compound
    (235UF6 ) uranium hexafluoride
    The gas centrifuge process uses a large number
    of rotating cylinders in series and parallel
    formations.
    Each cylinder's rotation creates a strong
    centrifugal force so that the heavier gas
    molecules containing 238U move toward the
    outside of the cylinder and the lighter gas
    molecules rich in 235U collect closer to the center.

    Heterogeneous reactor Core


    The fuel is separated by moderator
    Nuclear reactor core is shown

    Control rods are used for maintaining


    the desired state of fission reactions
    within a nuclear reactor.
    functionality of a control rod depends
    on its ability to absorb neutrons from
    the fission chain reaction
    control Rods are generally made of
    Boron, Boron Carbide and Cadmium.

    Thermal Reactor Power


    Plant
    Use Thermal Reactors, in which
    thermal neutrons are used for fission
    reaction
    Moderator is used to thermalize the
    neutron and also act as coolant
    Light or heavy water is used as both
    moderator and coolant

    Types of Thermal reactor Power


    Plants
    Pressurize water reactor (PWR) Power
    Plants
    Boiling Water reactor Power Plants
    Gas cooled Reactors (GCR) Power
    Plants
    Heavy Water Reactor Power Plant

    Pressurize water reactor (PWR) Power Plants

    Coolant pressure is higher than saturation pressure


    corresponding to maximum coolant temperature in the
    reactor
    No coolant boiling takes place inside the reactor
    There are two loops in PWR,
    1. primary coolant loop inside the reactor (takes the reactor
    heat)
    2. Water steam or working fluid loop to be used in the Rankine
    cycle
    . The Pressurizer keeps the coolant in the reactor at a pressure
    greater than the saturation pressure corresponding to the
    maximum coolant temperature inside the reactor
    . This avoids the coolant boiling
    . Liquids are incompressible

    Types of Pressurizer
    1. Vapor Pressurizer use in PWR (more compact because
    coolant can be vaporized)
    2. Gas Pressurizer used in liquid metal fast breeder reactors

    Boiling Water Reactor Power


    Plant
    The coolant
    is boiled
    directly in
    the core
    Coolant
    work as
    moderator,
    coolant and
    working
    fluid

    Gas Cooled Reactor (GCR)


    CO2 as coolant
    Graphite as moderator
    Gases are safe, cheaper and easy to
    handle
    May operate at high temperature
    without high pressurization
    Disadvantage is lower heat transfer
    characteristics

    Heavy Water Reactor

    Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR) and


    Power Plants
    In fast reactors neutrons are not
    slowed down
    A breeder reactor is one where more
    fissionable fuel is produced than
    consumed
    Conversion ratio greater than one
    In FBR U238 is converted into Pu239,
    Some Pu239 is burned, but some
    remains

    Overview of Fast Breeder


    Reactors
    Produce more fissile material than is
    consumed
    Technology first developed in the 1950s
    Utilize uranium 60 times as efficienctly as
    PWRs
    Cooled by liquid metal

    Fast Breeder Reactors vs. Pressurized Water


    Reactors
    FBR
    Fuel is enriched to
    15-20%
    Moderator: none
    Heat transfer by
    liquid metal or
    metal alloys
    Typically sodium

    Reactor under low


    pressure
    ~1.2 fissile atoms
    produced per fission

    PWR
    Fuel is enriched to
    3-5%
    Moderator: water
    Heat transfer by
    water
    Reactor under high
    pressure
    Fissile material is
    only consumed

    Liquid Metal Coolant


    Typical metal used is sodium
    Some reactors use lead, lead-bismuth alloy, or
    sodium fluoride salt

    Advantages of sodium

    Low melting temperature (98C)


    High boiling temperature (892C)
    High heat capacity
    System can run at low pressure

    Risks of sodium
    Burns when it comes in contact with air or
    water
    Poisonous fumes

    Future of Fast Breeders


    Next generation may use noble
    gases such as helium or argon
    instead of sodium
    Increase in the breeding ratio
    Believed that a ratio of 1.3 will be
    possible

    Smaller reactors
    Lower maintenance and repair costs

    Higher reactor temperatures


    Can be used for thermochemical

    LMFBR arrangements
    Due to high
    radioactivity,
    intermediate
    loops are used

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