RADIOACTIVITY AND NUCLEAR ENERGY

A BRIEF LOOK

Professor Dr. Ameer Al-Bayati

2014

Parts are abstracted from Internet articles

RADIOACTIVITY

Radiation comes from the nucleus of an atom.

Unstable nucleus emits a particle or energy

alpha
beta

gamma
ALPHA PARTICLE

Same as a helium nucleus

(He)

4
2 He or
Two protons
Two neutrons
ALPHA DECAY

Uranium Thorium
ALPHA DECAY

http://education.jlab.org/glossary/alphadecay.gif
 BETA PARTICLE

An electron emitted from the nucleus

0
e or
1

A neutron in the nucleus breaks down

1 1 0
n H + e
0 1 -1
BETA DECAY
BETA DECAY

Thorium Protactinium
 GAMMA RADIATION

Pure radiation

Like an X-ray but comes from the nucleus

GAMMA DECAY

Gamma radiation : electromagnetic energy

that is released.
Gamma rays are electromagnetic waves.

They have no mass.

Gamma radiation has no charge.

MostPenetrating, can be stopped by 1m thick
concrete or a several cm thick sheet of lead.
EXAMPLES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY
Alpha Decay
Po Pb + He

Beta Decay p n + e
n p + e
C N + e
Gamma Decay
Ni Ni +
(excited nucleus)
RADIATION PROTECTION
ALPHA DECAY
BETA DECAY

234Th 234Pa + 0e
90 91 1

beta particle
GAMMA RADIATION
No change in atomic or mass number

11B 11B + 0
5 5 0

boron atom in a
high-energy state
HALF-LIFE OF A RADIOISOTOPE

The time for the radiation level to fall (decay) to one-

half its initial value

decay curve

initial

1
half-life
2
3
8 mg 4 mg 2 mg 1 mg
EXAMPLES OF HALF-LIFE
Isotope Half life
C-15 2.4 sec
Ra-224 3.6 days
Ra-223 12 days
I-125 60 days
C-14 5700 years
U-235 710 000 000 years
EXERCISES

1)The half life of I-123 is 13 hr. How much of a

1)The half life of I-123 is 64 mg sample of I-123 is left after 26 hours?
13 hr. How much of a 64
mg sample of I-123 is left
after 26 hours?

26 hours = 2 x t1/2
Amount initial = 64mg
Amount remaining = 64 mg x x
t1/2 = 13 hrs = 16 mg
HALF LIFE CALCULATIONS
For more complicated cases, a general formula
shall be used:

elapsed time*log 2
Half life =----------------------------------------
log[ Beginning amount/Ending amount]
 HALF LIFE CALCULATIONS
Another forms are:
If n= elapsed time/ half life ( also called # of half-
lives),
Then:
Beginning amount= Ending amount X 2n

OR:
Ending amount= Beginning amount/2n
HALF-LIFE CALCULATION

Question1: You elapsed time = half

start with 100 life * log
grams of sulfur-35, (beginning amount elapsed time =
which has a half / ending amount) / 87.51 * (1 /
life of 87.51 days. log 2 .30103)
How much time will elapsed time = elapsed time =
it take until only 10 87.51 * (log (100 / 290.70 days
grams remain? 10) / .30103)
HALF-LIFE CALCULATION
Question 2:
Hydrogen-3 or tritium as it is commonly
called, has a half life of 12.32 years. If you
start with 20 grams of it, how much will
remain after 25 years?

Ending Amount = Beginning Amount / 2(time /

half-life)
Ending Amount = 20 / 2(25 / 12.32)
Ending Amount = 20 / 2(2.0292)
Ending Amount = 20 / 4.0818
Ending Amount = 4.8997 grams
HALF-LIFE CALCULATIONS

You measure the radioactivity of a substance, then when

measuring it 120 days later, you find that it only has 54.821
% of the radioactivity it had when you first measured it. What
is the half life of that substance?

Half life = (time * log 2) / log

Half life = (120 *
(beginning amount / ending amount)
.30103) / log (1 /
.54821)

Half life =
Half life = 36.1236 / Half life =
36.1236 /
log (1.8241) 138.38 days
.26105
ATOMIC ENERGY
The use of atomic energy is expected to increase due
to many environmental, political, economical and
other reasons.
However, the issue of safety is still a disputed one,
especially in cases of natural disasters.
Nuclear Energy is released and used as in the
following representation:
http://www.cameco.com/common/flash/fuelcycle/lib
/reactor21.swf
ATOMIC MASS
How heavy is an atom of oxygen?
There are different kinds of oxygen atoms.

More concerned with average atomic mass.

Based on abundance of each element in

nature.
Dont use grams because the numbers would
be too small
WHAT'S A NUCLEAR REACTOR?

A Nuclear Reactor is a system that

contains and controls sustained
nuclear chain reactions;
Most reactors are used for generating
electricity;
The Sun is a natural Nuclear Reactor.
WHAT IS INSIDE? HOW IT WORKS?

Nuclear power plants work by controlling

the rate of the nuclear reactions, and that
control is maintained through several
safety measures. The materials in a
nuclear reactor core and the uranium
enrichment level make a nuclear
explosion impossible, even if all safety
measures failed.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Onthe other hand, nuclear weapons

are engineered to produce a reaction
that is so fast and intense it cannot
be controlled after it has started.
When properly designed, this
uncontrolled reaction can lead to an
explosive energy release.
NUCLEAR FISSION

Nuclear Fission is the splitting of atomic nuclei into

more stable fragments.
This is done by shooting a slow neutron into a
uranium atom to create fission fragments and
produce more neutrons to start a chain reaction.
It can happen spontaneously in nature, or can be
induced (man-made)
Induced nuclear fission is what happens in nuclear
power plants.
NUCLEAR FISSION
Fission occurs mainly for rare isotope U-235,
which makes up 0.7% of the uranium in pure
uranium metal.
U-235 undergoes spontaneous fission in a small
percentage all of the time. However, U-235 is one
of the few materials that can undergo induced
(man-made) fission.
Fortunately, U-238 absorbs neutrons; it does not
undergo fission, so it can stop a chain reaction
by absorbing the neutrons.
NUCLEAR FUEL- ENRICHMENT

Naturaluranium oxide, UO3 is about 99

percent U-238. The rest is U-235. We
need to separate the U-235 from the U-
238 and increase the amount of U-235.

The process of concentrating the U-235 is

called enrichment.
ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM

Be careful! Enrichment is not

converting U-238 into U-235.
Physical means are used to
remove some of the U-238,
thereby increasing the
percentage of U-235.
NUCLEAR FISSION
A U-235 nucleus is struck with a neutron- Fission takes
place, new stable fragments and more neutrons are
produces and a Chain Reaction is started:
NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION

An uncontrolled chain reaction is used in

nuclear weapons

# fissions double every generation

10 generations 1024 fissions

80 generations 6 x 1023 fissions
NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTIONS
In a nuclear fission reaction in a nuclear power plant, the
radioactive element Uranium is used in a chain reaction.
The fission of splits off two neutrons, which in turn strike
two atoms.
Two neutrons are split from each of the two atoms. Each of
these neutrons then go on to strike another atom. Each of
those atoms are split releasing two neutrons, which go on
and hit more Uranium atoms.
The chain reaction continues on and on, getting bigger and
bigger with each split.
A CONTROLLED NUCLEAR REACTION
A controlled chain reaction can be used for
nuclear power generation

Most reactors are controlled by means of

control rods that are made of a strongly
neutron-absorbent material such as boron or
cadmium.
PEACE AND WAR

An uncontrolled chain reaction is

used in nuclear weapons.

A controlled chain reaction can be

used for nuclear power generation
ENERGY IN NUCLEAR REACTIONS
There is a tremendous amount of energy
stored in nuclei.

Einsteins famous equation, E = mc2, relates

directly to the calculation of this energy.

In nuclear reactions the amount of energy

released can be enormous.
FOR EXAMPLE:

The energy released from the

nuclear reaction of one kilogram
of uranium is equivalent to the
energy released during the
combustion of 4 billion kilograms
of coal.
ENERGY IN NUCLEAR REACTIONS

The term c2 makes the energy released in nuclear

reactions so large:

The c is the speed of light: 3.0 x 10 8 m/s.

The change in energy, E, is then
E = (m) c2
E = (m)(3.00 108 m/s)2
E= ???
ENERGY IN NUCLEAR REACTIONS

For example, the mass change for the decay of 1

mol of uranium-238 is 0.0046 g.
The change in energy, E, is then
E = (m) c2
E = (4.6 106 kg)(3.00 108 m/s)2
E = 4.1 1011 J
 THE LAST WORD

The ethical question remains:

Should we make wars to use nuclear

weapons?
OR
Should we love each other, make peace and
use nuclear energy for the best of the human
kind?