NUCLEAR

REACTIONS AND
APPLICATIONS
Luh Gede Ratna Prasada
02311740000082
 13.1 TYPES OF NUCLEAR REACTIONS
13.2 RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION IN NUCLEAR
REACTIONS

Outline 13.3 LOW-ENERGY REACTION KINEMATICS

13.4 FISSION
13.5 FUSION
13.6 NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
13.7 APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS
 Two types of measurement :
1. Measuring the particle energy
2. Measuring the reaction probability

13.1 TYPES OF The Reaction Cross Section

NUCLEAR sort of effective area presented by the target nucleus
REACTIONS to that projectile for a specific reaction, for all possible
energies and directions of travel of the outgoing
particle y. The larger the reaction probability, the
larger is the corresponding cross section. In general,
the cross section depends on the energy of the
incident particle
 This figure shows the
13.2 RADIOISOTOPE relationship between
a(t) and t. As you can
PRODUCTION IN
see, not much activity
NUCLEAR is gained by
REACTIONS irradiating for more
than about two half-
lives.
 13.3 LOW-ENERGY REACTION
KINEMATICS

Energy conservation
in the center-of-mass
frame gives:
 13.4 FISSION

Energy Released in Fission

About 80% of the fission
energy is released in this form.
The fragments do not
travel very far before
dissipating their kinetic energy
through atomic collisions,
which are usually observed as
a temperature increase of the
material.
 13.4 FISSION

Induced Fission
These nuclei can be made to fission by the addition of some energy, which
might be in the form of an absorbed photon but more often occurs with the
absorption of a neutron. In these cases the energy input is very small compared
with the energy released in the fission process.
 13.4 FISSION
Electrical Power from Fission
ENRICHMENT
To maintain a steady energy production from fission reactions, we would like
for one neutron from each fission to be available to produce another fission.

MODERATION
The neutrons produced in fission typically have kinetic energies of
a few MeV. Such energetic neutrons have a relatively low probability of
inducing new fissions, because the fission cross section generally decreases
rapidly withincreasing neutron energy. We therefore must slow down, or
moderate, theseneutrons in order to increase their chances of initiating fission
events. Thefissionable material is surrounded by a moderator, and the neutrons
lose energyin collisions with the atoms of the moderator.
 13.4 FISSION
Electrical Power from Fission
CONTROL
To produce a stable nuclear reactor, the average number of neutrons in each
fission reaction that is available to produce the next set of fission reactions
must be exactly equal to 1. If it is even slightly greater than 1, the reaction rate
will grow exponentially out of control.
 13.4 FISSION
Electrical Power from Fission
 13.4 FISSION
Fission Reactors
In a fission reactor, the heat
produced in the fuel must be
extracted to generate electrical
power. It must also be extracted for
reasons of safety, because enough
heat is produced to melt the core
and cause a serious accident. For
this reason, reactors contain an
emergency core cooling system that
is designed to prevent the core from
overheating if the heat extraction
system should fail.
 13.5 FUSION

Fusion Processes in Stars

In the basic fusion process that

occurs in stars (including our Sun),
four protonscombine to make one
4He. Stars are composed of ordinary
hydrogen rather than deuterium, so
it is first necessary to convert the
hydrogen to deuterium.
 13.5 FUSION

Fusion Reactors
The electrical repulsion of the ionized
particles in a plasma tends to force the ions
away from one another and toward the
walls of their container, where they would
lose energy in collisions with the cooler
atoms of the walls. To Maintain the density
and temperature, two techniques are under
development. In magnetic confinement,
intense magnetic fields are used to trap the
motion of the particles, and in inertial
confinement, the plasma is heated and
compressed so quickly that fusion occurs
before the fuel can expand and cool.
13.6 NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
After a star’s hydrogen has been converted to helium through fusion
reactions, gravitational collapse can occur that raises the
temperature of the core of the star from about 107 K to about 108 K.
At this point there is enough thermal kinetic energy to overcome the
Coulomb repulsion of the helium nuclei, and helium fusion can
begin

If this explanation of the formation of elements is correct, we expect

the abundances of the elements to have the following properties:
1. Large relative abundances of the light, even-Z elements; small
relative abundances of odd-Z elements.
2. Little or none of the elements between He and C (Li, Be, B), which
are not produced in these reactions.
3. Large relative abundance of Fe, the end product of the fusion cycle.
 13.7 APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR
PHYSICS

Neutron Activation Analysis

Medical Radiation Physics
Alpha-Scattering Applications
Superheavy Elements