EET3196 Energy Technologies

Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy

1. Calculate the inertial mass equivalent (in kg) of a photon of energy 3.0 eV. Calculate the fractional change in
the energy of such a photon when it falls through 100 m near the surface of the earth.
2. Calculate the heat that must be added to raise the temperature of 90.200 tonnes of UO 2 fuel from 280 to
300oC. The specific heat at constant pressure of UO 2 is 290.0 J/kg-K. Sate your answer in J and BTU.
3. Calculate the maximum theoretical efficiency of a nuclear power plant, assuming that heat is transferred from
the nuclear core at 608oF and the circulating water is at 59oF.
4. Distinguish between the count-rate as measured by a detector and the activity of a source.
5. Calculate the increase in unavailable energy that occurs in 1 second as a result of a transfer of heat from the
nuclear fuel in a PWR 320oC to the primary coolant at 300oC. Assume that the reactor is operating at a thermal
power of 3.3 GW. Comment on the significance of the small temperature difference between the fuel and the
coolant.
6. (a) Consider a nuclear power plant with an efficiency of 30% and a coal-fired plant with an efficiency of 40%.
Each plant produces 1 GW of useful turbine work. With the same turbine work output, calculate the rate at
which heat is rejected to the environment, and hence, determine which of the two plants contributes more to
the environment thermal pollution. Why is it that for comparable turbine work, the plant is more thermally
polluting? Where or how does the unavoidable heat come from? How does this temperature increase affect the
environment? (b) Only about half of the heat generated within a nuclear core is transformed into useful
turbine work. The actual efficiency of a nuclear power plant is about 3033%. In fact, in any type of power
plant using water as the working fluid, the temperature at which heat can be added to evaporating water is
limitedlimited by what? Now, even if water is not used as the working fluid in a power plant, the
temperature at which heat can be added is restrictedrestricted by what? Also, why is it what Thot in nuclear
power plants is limited because of nuclear safety considerations?
7. Discuss the fundamental properties of ionizing radiation, including the types and their sources.
8. How is radiation measured and in what units? Distinguish between absorbed dose, equivalent dose, and
effective dose in your answer.
9. What are the differences between the boiling-water reactor (BWR) and the pressurized-water reactor (PWR)
for nuclear fission thermal generation? Draw and label sketches of the two reactors.
10. Because of the complexity of the development of the nuclear fusion reactor, it is likely that the fusion reactor
would be more expensive than the nuclear fission reactor. Nevertheless, it does offer a safer and more
environmentally attractive alternative. (a) What are the major difficulties and complexities of the
development of the nuclear fusion reactor? (b) Why is the fusion reactor safer and more environmentally
attractive than the fission reactor?
11. The mass loss for each uranium-235 atom fission is 3.57 x 10 -28 kg. (a) Calculate the released energy if 2.3 kg
of U-235 is completely fissioned. (b) The enriched uranium ore contains only 2% fissionable U-235, in a
mixture of U-238. What mass of uranium ore has the thermal energy equivalent of 100 tons of coal? (1 ton of
coal contains 30 GJ energy.)
12. Give reasons why nuclear energy is usually used in a military submarine that performs long-duration task in
the sea.
13. (a) Calculate the mass deficit in atomic mass unit (amu) of the following fission reaction: 235U + n 139Xe +
95
Sr + 2n. (b) Calculate the energy (in MeV) released per one fission. (c) Calculate the energy released per
kilogram of 235U, and compare it to the energy released in the combustion of 1 kg carbon. (Mass [in amu]:
235
U: 235.043924, n: 1.008665, 139Xe: 138.91874, 95Sr: 94.91938; C + O2 CO2 393.5 kJ/mol)

Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy

14. Consider the following fusion reaction: D + T 4He + n. Calculate the energy released (in MeV and J) per
one fusion. Calculate the energy released per kilogram of deuterium. (Mass [in amu]: D: 2.0140, T: 3.01605,
4
He: 4.0026, n: 1.008665)
15. In a nuclear accident, there is a release of 90Sr that emits rays with a half-life of 28.1 year. Suppose that 1 g
of 90Sr was absorbed by a newly born child. How much 90Sr would remain in the persons body after 18 and 70
years if none is lost metabolically?
16. The isotope 223Ra has a half-life of 11.4 days. 223Ra decays at a rate of 1 Ci/g of radium isotope. What will be
the decay rate of the 1-gram sample after 10, 100, and 1,000 days?
17. The isotope 129I has a half-life of 15.7 years. In a nuclear power plant accident, 1 kg of the iodine isotope is
dispersed into the surroundings of the plant. How much iodine isotope will remain in the surrounding after 1,
10, and 100 years?
18. The concentrated nitric acid used in the purex process (Pu-U recovery extraction process) decomposes slowly
on standing, especially in sunlight, and becomes slightly yellow due to the presence of dissolved nitrogen
dioxide. Write an equation to show the decomposition of nitric acid into nitrogen dioxide, water, and oxygen
gases.
19. Energy is produced in the Sun from the fusion process. A proton is considered a sphere of radius 1.5 fm. Two
protons will fuse together only if they can touch each other. (a) Calculate the minimum energy of the two
protons so that fusion can take place. (b) By considering that protons behave like monatomic ideal gas,
estimate the temperature for the fusion to take place. (c) The temperature at the Sun is 10 million K. Explain
why some of the protons in the Sun have sufficient energy for fusion to take place.
20. (a) Explain what is meant by binding energy of a nucleus. (b) Sketch a graph to show the variation of binding
energy per nucleon with mass number. Hence, qualitatively explain the energy released in a fusion reaction of
nuclei. (c) Solar energy is produced by fusion reaction in the Sun. One of the fusion process is known as
proton cycle that involves the following reactions: Reaction 1, 1H + 1H 2H + e+ + Q1; Reaction 2, 2H + 1H
3He + Q2; and Reaction 3, 3He + 3He 4He + 21H + Q3; where Q1, Q2, and Q3 are energy released.
Calculate Q1, state the number of protons required to form a helium-4 nucleus in the continuous reaction,
calculate the total energy released for the formation of a He-4 nucleus, and determine the fraction from the
mass of protons that is changed into energy in one complete cycle of the proton reaction cycle. (d) The Sun
emits 4.0 x 1026 W at a constant rate and the total proton mass in the Sun is 2.0 x 10 30 kg. Estimate the lifespan
of the Sun if the Sun emits energy through the reaction of the proton cycle. (Mass: 1H, 1.00728u; 2H,
2.01355u, e+, 0.00055u; 4He, 4.00150u.)
21. (a) Nuclear fission is carried out using thermal neutrons. What is meant by the terms nuclear fission and
thermal neutrons? (b) Consider the following nuclear fission: 235U + n 141Cs + 93Rb + 2n. (i) Calculate the
mass defect of the given reaction and explain, in terms of energy, why the mass defect occurs. (ii) In an atomic
bomb, energy is released from the fission of U-235 according to the given reaction. One atomic bomb uses
180 kg of U-235. What is the reduction in mass which occurs if all of U-235 undergo fission? (iii) How much
energy is released in the given fission of U-235? (iv) The strength (in megatonnes of TNT) of an atomic bomb
is the total energy released when the bomb explodes. One megatonne of TNT releases 2.6 x 10 28 MeV of
energy. Determine the strength of the atomic bomb with the given reaction. (Mass: 235U, 235.04392u; n,
1.00867u; 141Cs, 140.91963u; 93Rb, 92.92157u)
22. The nucleus 14C is not stable, and decays naturally to form 14N: 14C 14N + -. (a) Show that the mass of the
- particle needs not be taken into consideration in the calculation of the decay energy if the mass of 14C and
14
N atoms, instead of nuclei, are used. (b) Calculate the decay energy of 14C. (c) State the type of energy
released from this decay. (d) In some - decay, a neutrino particle is emitted. State two properties of the
neutrino. (Mass: 14C atom, 14.003242u; 14N atom, 14.003074u)
23. (a) Sketch the graph of neutron number (N) against proton number (Z) for stable nuclei. (b) Explain how the
nuclei, particularly the heavier ones, can exist while the force of repulsion between the protons in the nuclei is
very strong since they are very close to one another. (c) Using the mass-energy relationship, explain why the
mass of a nucleus is less than the total mass of the nucleons in the nucleus.
Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy

24. Two radioactive samples A and B contain the same number of nuclei. (a) Compare, in terms of their half-lives,
the initial activities of the two radioactive samples. (b) What is the ratio, in terms of their half-lives, of the
number of nucleus A to the number of nucleus B when the activities of both radioactive samples are the same?
25. Natural carbon consists of 14C and 12C. The ratio of the number of 14C nucleus to the total number of natural
carbon nucleus is 1.32 x 10-12. (a) Calculate the number of 14C nucleus in 400 mg of natural carbon of an
ancient material. (b) If the half-life of 14C is 5730 years and the ancient material has an activity of 136 decays
per hour, calculate the age of the ancient material.
26. What is an atomic mass unit? What is its value in kg?
27. Draw an N-Z graph, where N is the neutron number and Z the proton number. Use arrow lines to show the ,
-, and + decays, and electron capture. Also, write down the representative nuclear equations of the , -, and
+ decays, and electron capture. {A reasonable prediction of the favored mode of decay of an unstable nucleus
may be made from its position relative to the line of stability on the N-versus-Z plot. A nucleus located above
the line has an excess of neutrons and reduces its neutron number (N) by --decay. A nucleus located below
the line is neutron deficient (has an excess of protons) and decreases its atomic number (Z) by -decay (for
heavy [big Z] elements), electron capture (for intermediate [medium Z] size elements), and positron emission
(for light [small Z] elements).}
28. Calculate the Q-value for the -decay of 238U. What fraction of this disintegration is given to the -particle (a
nucleus He)? Mass of 238U atom is 238.050784u, 234Th atom 233.943582u, and 4He atom is 4.002602u.
29. A deuteron is a particle consisting of one proton and one neutron. Is the deuteron a stable particle? What is its
binding energy? Masses of deuteron is 2.013553u, proton 1.007276u, and neutron 1.008665u.
30. Write -decay reaction equations of the following: - decay of 198O, + decay of 158O, and e- capture of 4019K.
31. A 500-kBq sample of 24Na decays with a half-life of 15 hours. What would be the activity of the sample after
60 hours? How many radioactive nuclei would the sample contain after 60 hours?
32. What is cold fusion? Why do many physicists and chemists doubt the cold fusion claims?
33. When 6Li is bombarded with 4-MeV deuterons, one reaction that is observed is the formation of two particles, each with 13.2 MeV of energy. Find the Q-value of this reaction.
34. Find the Q-value of the reaction 19276Os(d,t)19176Os. Given: (nucleus, mass excess in u): (19276Os, -0.038550),
(19176Os, -0.039030), (d, +0.014102), and (t, +0.016050).
35. About 185 MeV of usable energy is released in the neutron-induced fission of a 235U nucleus. If 235U in a
reactor is continuously generating 100 MW of power, how long will it take for 1 kg of the uranium to be used
up.
36. For the DT fusion reaction 3H(d,n)4He, calculate the rate at which deuteron and tritium are used to produced 1
MW. Assume all energy from the fusion reaction is available and the energy released in each fusion is Q =
17.6 MeV.
37. One of the reactions that occurs when tritium (3H) is bombarded with deuterons (2H nuclei) is 3H(d,n)4He.
Compute the Q-value of this reaction. Masses in u of 3H, 2H, 4He, and n are respectively 3.016049, 2.014102,
4.002604, and 1.008665. Also, what is the sum of the kinetic energy of the emergent -particle and neutron
when stationery 3H atoms are bombarded by 1-MeV deuterons?
38. Fluorine has only one stable isotope, 199F. Write equations for the expected decay processes of 20F and 18F.
39. The Chernobyl accident, which occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine
(then part of the Soviet Union), is widely regarded as the worst in the history of nuclear power generation.
With special reference to the Chernobyl accident case study, develop arguments for and against the statement
that the operation of nuclear power plants should be discontinued as it does not adequately ensure the
Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy

protection implied in Article 3 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights that everyone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person.
40. Case scenario
Concern about the prevalence of childhood cancer around a nuclear installation was broadcast on a
national television programme. An ad hoc committee was set up by the Ministries of Health, Labour and
Environment. It initiated two epidemiologic studies: a retrospective cohort study of the workers at the
plant, and a case-control study of leukemia and lymphoma among young people living in the vicinity of the
plant. The installation consists of four reactors, a spent-fuel reprocessing unit, various waste treatment
plants, and a fast-reactor fuel-fabrication plant.
The study of workers' mortality included all persons first employed before 1976, followed up until 31
December 1983. Deaths from all causes and cancer were somewhat lower than expected based on the
general population mortality rates of the province. However, there were positive associations between
accumulated radiation dose and death rates from bladder cancer, multiple myeloma, leukemia and
haematopoietic neoplasms. These were not statistically significant when exposure up to the time of death or
up to two years previously was considered. Nevertheless, when exposures recorded in the 15 years before
death were ignored, these ssociations, with the exception of that for leukemia, became significant (p < 0.05).
The observed association of radiation with bladder cancer has not been found in previous studies, but the
findings for myeloma have been reported before for radiation workers.

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In the second study, all identified cases of leukemia and lymphoma among individuals born in the region and
diagnosed at ages under 25 were compared with controls matched by sex and date of birth and selected from
the same birth register as the cases (eight controls were taken for every case). The startling and significant
finding (p < 0.05) was that paternal external radiation dose at work during the 6 months before conception
10 mSv) or total occupational life-time dose before conception (> 100 mSv) was associated with a raised
incidence of leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among children of employees of the nuclear complex.
Other than antenatal abdominal X-ray examinations, for which there was a non-significant positive (p > 0.05)
association, and maternal age, no other risk factors were correlated with the observed incidence of leukemia
and lymphoma. This study is based on 46 cases of leukemia and 20 cases of lymphomas.
(a) Are the health effects reported for the workers and the young people in the case scenario consistent
with exposure to ionizing radiation? What are the routes of radiation exposure?
(b) Assuming that the implied link between paternal exposure and leukemia and lymphoma in children of the
exposed workers is real, what underlying pathological mechanism is implied?
41. Complete the following nuclear reactions:
(a) 4320Ca(,?)4621Sr, (b) 5525Mn(n,)?, (c) ?(,p)178O, and (d) 94Be(?,n)126C.
42. A typical power plant generates about 1000 MW of electricity. If 40% of the energy generated by fission is
turned into electricity, how much uranium-235 is used in one year? Assume the energy released per fission
event is 200 MeV.
43. Deuterium is a stable isotope of hydrogen with an abundance of about 0.015%. Calculate the energy that could
be generated from 1 gallon (3.8 kg) of seawater using the D-D fusion reaction of Q = 3.27 MeV.
44. In studying the metabolism of a plant, a scientist adds each day 2 Ci of radioactive 32P (half-life 14.3 day) to
a solution in which the roots of a seedling are immersed. Assuming the plant removed a negligible amount of
the radioisotope, what would be the activity of the solution immediately after the dose was added on the 30 th
day?
45. A neutron is more effective in causing fission in 235U if its energy is about 0.040 eV, than that of a neutron at
room temperature (0.0250 eV). A neutron emitted in fission typically has energy of about 1 MeV. If such a
neutron loses half of its kinetic energy in each collision with a moderator nucleus, about how many collisions
must it make in order to become thermalized?

Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy

46. It is important not to let a nuclear fission reactor run away. Suppose that in a nuclear fission reactor the
reproduction factor K is 1.0005. If the average time between successive fissions in a chain reaction is 1 ms, by
what factor will the reaction rate increase in 1 s? By what factor will it increase if K = 2?
47. A sample from a toxic waste dump is dissolved in 5 cm3 of water and found to have an activity of 3.0
mCi/cm3. This sample is diluted to 100 cm3, and a 10 cm3 of the diluted material is monitored for radioactivity.
It is suspected that the radioisotope is 64Cu, with a half-life of 12.7 hr. If this is the case, what activity would
be the expected after 72 hr?
48. Iodine tends to accumulate in the thyroid gland. One treatment for cancer of the thyroid is to inject the patient
with radioactive iodine-131 that kills the cancer cells. Of course, the radiation affects other cells too; so,
excessive doses must be avoided. Through biological processes the body excretes iodine exponentially with a
half-life of about 7 days; hence, this process plus the radioactive decay reduces the activity over a period of
time. The half-life of I-131 is about 8 days. How long would be required to reduce the activity in the body to
0.1% of its initial level?
49. When an atom of 235U undergoes fission in a reactor, about 200 MeV of energy is liberated. Suppose that a
reactor using uranium-235 has an output of 700 MW and is 20% efficient. (a) How many uranium atoms does
it consume in one day? (b) What mass of uranium does it consume each day?
50. Neutrons produced by fission must be slowed by collisions with moderator nuclei before they are effective in
causing further fissions. Suppose an 800-keV neutron loses 40% of its energy on each collision. How many
collisions are required to decrease its energy to 0.040 eV? (0.040 eV is the average thermal energy of a gas
particle at 35oC.)
51. Lithium hydride, LiH, has been proposed as a possible nuclear fuel. The nuclei to be used and the reaction
involved are 6Li + 2H 24He. The masses of the neutral atoms: 6Li is 6.01513u, 2H 2.01410u, and 4He
4.00260u. Calculate the expected power production, in MW, associated with the consumption of 1.00 g of LiH
power day. Assume 100% efficiency.
52. Cosmic rays bombarded the CO2 in the atmosphere and, by nuclear reaction, cause the formation of the
radioactive carbon isotope 14C (of half-life 5730 years). This isotope mixes into the atmosphere uniformly and
is taken up in plants as they grow. After the plants die, the 14C decays over the ensuing years. How old is a
piece of wood that has a 14C content that is only 9% as large as the average 14C content of new-grown wood?
53. A beam of alpha particles passes through flesh and deposits 0.20 J of energy in each kilogram of flesh. The QF
of these particles is 12 Sv/Gy. Find the dose in Gy and rad, as well as the effective dose in Sv and rem.
54. A beam of gamma has a cross-sectional area of 2.0 cm2 and carries 7.0 x 108 photons through the cross-section
each second. Each photon has an energy of 1.25 MeV. The beam passes through a 0.75 cm thickness of flesh
(of density 0.95 g/cm3) and loses 5.0% of its intensity in the process. What is the average dose (in Gy and in
rad) applied to the flesh each second?
55. A tumor on a persons leg has a mass of 3.0 g. What is the minimum activity (in Bq and in mCi) a radiation
source can have if it is to furnish a dose of 10 Gy to the tumor in 14 min? Assume each disintegration within
the source, on the average, provides an energy 0.70 MeV to the tumor.
56. A beam of 5.0-MeV alpha particles has a cross-sectional area of 1.50 cm 2. It is incident on flesh (of density
950 kg/m3) and penetrates to a depth of 0.70 mm. (a) What dose (in Gy) does the beam provide to the flesh in
a time of 3.0 s? (b) What effective does it provide? Assume the beam to carry a current of 2.50 nA and to have
QF = 14.
57. (a) Why do heavier elements require more neutrons in order to maintain stability? (b) Why do nearly all
naturally occurring isotopes lie above the N = Z line of the N-versus-Z plot?
58. Two samples of the same radioactive nuclide are prepared. Sample A has twice the initial activity of sample B.
How does the half-life of A compare with that of B? After each has passed through five half-lives, what is the
ratio of their activities?
Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy

59. A freshly prepared pure sample of a certain radioactive isotope has an activity of 10.0 mCi. After 4.00 hr, its
activity is 8.00 mCi. (a) Find the decay constant and half-life. (b) How many atoms of the isotope were
contained in the freshly prepared sample? (c) What is the samples activity 30.0 hr after it is prepared?
60. A byproduct of some fission reactors is the isotope 239Pu, an alpha emitter having a half-life of 24000 years:
239
Pu 235U + . Consider a sample of 1.00 kg of pure 239Pu at t = 0. Calculate (a) the number of 239Pu nuclei
present at t = 0 and (b) the initial activity in the sample. (c) How long does the sample have to be stored if a
safe activity level is 0.100 Bq?
61. Natural gold has one isotope, 19779Au. If natural gold is irradiated by a flux of slow neutrons, electrons are
emitted. (a) Write the appropriate reaction equation. (b) Calculate the maximum energy of the emitted beta
particles. The mass of 19880Hg is 197.96675u; and those of 19779Au and n are, respectively, 196.96656u and
1.008665u.
62. Carbon detonations are powerful nuclear reactions that temporarily tear apart the cores of massive stars late in
their lives. These blasts are produced by carbon fusion, which requires a temperature of about 600 million K
to overcome the strong Coulomb repulsion between carbon nuclei. (a) Estimate the repulsive energy barrier to
fusion, using the required ignition temperature for carbon fusion, i.e., what is the average kinetic energy of a
carbon nucleus at 600 million K? (b) Calculate the energy (in MeV) released in each of these carbon-burning
reactions: 12C + 12C 20Ne + and 12C + 12C 24Mg + . (c) Calculate the energy (in kWh) given off when
2.00 kg of carbon completely fuses according to the first reaction. (Masses in u: 20Ne 19.992439, 4He
4.002603, 24Mg 23.985042; 1 u = 931.5 MeV)
63. Enter the correct isotope symbol in each empty box below, which shows the sequence of decays starting with
uranium-235 and ending with the stable isotope lead-207.
235
92

U
231
91

Pa

Particle
emitted

219

At

85

211
83

Bi

207

e-

Pb

82

64. Compare nuclear power to biomass fuels, fossil fuels, and hydroelectric powerin terms of developmental
costs, safety, environmental impact, social impact, and renewability.
65. There are presently more than 400 nuclear reactors in the world. At the present rate of use, there are 50 years
left of known low-cost uranium reserves. How to extend the lifetime of nuclear energy?

05:25:22 29 September 2016

Tutorial #4: Nuclear Energy