EDEXCEL IGCSE: NUCLEAR PHYSICS 2 Uses of radioactive materials in medicine: * Tracers: Radioisotopes can be detected in very small quantities, so they can be used as tracers, which means their movement can be tracked. ‘They can be used to monitor thyroid function. A patient is required to drink a solution containing a radioactive isotope of iodine, which is a gamma emitter. Over the next 24 hours, a detector measures the activity of the tracers to find out how quickly it becomes concentrated in the thyroid gland. This method is also used to detect the location of diseased tissues For such procedures, radioisotopes with short half lives are used to that there is no detectable radiation after a few days. * Radiotherapy: Cobalt-60 is a strong gamma emitter. Gamma rays can penetrate deep into the body and kill living cells. So, a highly concentrated beam from aa cobalt-60 source can be used to kill cancer cells. This type of treatment is called radiotherapy. * Sterilizing medical equipment: Equipment used on patients during medical procedures are subjected to low does of gamma radiation. The gamma penetrates the microorganisms and kills them. Uses of radioactivity in research: + Carbon dating: Carbon, C-12, is present in the atmosphere and in the bodies of plants and animals. A small Portion of that is carbon-14, which is radioactive. Carbon-14 decays just like other radioactive materials, but more is formed in the upper atmosphere continually, so the amount of it changes very little. New carbon-14 is produced when nitrogen is bombarded continuously by cosmic radiation from space. 4H + n> Hee bp While plants and animals are living, feeding, and breathing, they absorb and give out carbon, so the proportion of carbon-14 in their body also remains constant. But when they Page 01die, no more carbon is taken in and the proportion of carbon-14 is gradually reduced by radioactive decay. By measuring the activity of a sample, the age of the remains can me estimated. This is called carbon dating. It can be used to find the age of organic materials such as wood and fossils. However, it assumes that the proportion of carbon-14 in the atmosphere was the same hundreds of thousands of years ago as it is today. This means the age we get from carbon dating is not exact but rather an approximation. Another limitation is the fact that the original amount of carbon-14 in organic materials is very small to begin with. So, after thousands of years of decay, the remaining amount is. difficult to measure accurately. Thus, carbon dating is reasonably accurate of this that are less than 10,000 years old. The half-life of carbon is 5700 years. + Dating rocks: When rocks are formed, some radioisotopes become trapped in them. For example, potassium-40 is trapped when materials coo! to form igneous rocks. The decay of potassium-40 produces stable argon-40. Provided none of this argon gas has escaped, the age of the rock can be estimated from the proportion of potassium-40 to argon-40. The halt- life of potassium-40 is about 1280 million years. Hazards and safety precautions: Extreme care is needed when dealing with radioactive substances. A number of small doses received over a long period may build up in the body and may eventually lead to cell mutation and cancer in later life Nowadays, strict safety precautions are taken so that the workers receives no more than the permitted maximum level of radiation. The radioactive isotopes used usually have the following characteristics: - Have half-lives measures in days or weeks only and hence cease to act after their proper function has been completed. Decay into harmless substances or else are eliminated from the system. Radioisotopes are handled with mechanical tongs operated by remote control equipment from behind thick walls of lead or concrete. For transport and storage, thick-walled lead containers are used. Workers wear badges that contain film sensitive to radiation and lead lined suits to reduce the chance of being exposed. Disposal of nuclear waste: Fuel rods in reactors are replaced every three to four years. The amount of uranium-235 in it falls and the fission products build. Many of these products are dangerous and cannot be released into the environment. Page 02The spent fuel rods are taken into a processing plant where unused fuels and platinum are removed. The remaining waste, now a liquid, is sealed off and stored with thick shielding around it. Some of the isotopes have long halt-lives, so safe storage is needed for thousands of years Nuclear Fusion and Fission Reactions An unstable nucleus releases energy in two ways. Nuclear fusion: this occurs when two light nuclei combine to form a heavy nucleus and release energy. Example: hydrogen fusion reaction that takes piace in the Sun. Such a fusion reaction is also known as a proton-proton (p-p) chain reaction: “Two tvdrogen nucle combine | form deuterium, an unstable ‘sotope of helium, 1H a 1H 31 1H oe 1H 21 1H + }H> 7H 1H 4 1H 7H 2H + IH 3He tH + IH He -— Be + 3He + tHe +214 + energy “The unstable helms nucll from iwo separate reactions now combine to form stable helium and release energy The equation can be reduced to this form as well: 41H -> $He + energy The deuterium now combines with athe unstable hati The energy from a fusion reaction is released in the form of heat. ‘Sustained fusion reaction has not been stabilized yet because: The protons are positively charged and repel each other; thus, a large force is necessary to make them collide and fuse with each other. Extremely high temperatures (millions of kelvins) need to be maintained to ensure continuous fusion. The density of hydrogen must be very high to ensure the reaction continues. Nuclear Fission: This occurs when a heavy nucleus (also called the parent nucleus) breaks down to form two lighter nuclei (2lso called daughter nuclei) and release energy in the process. A fission reaction is also called a chain reaction. This means that each stage of the reaction triggers the next stage. Example: Uranium or Plutonium fission reaction in a nuclear reactor. 235u 4 In lpa + 22Kr + 3in Page 03,‘The energy from such a reaction is released as kinetic energy. Nuclear fission reactor cia oscor vessel sounded faidectangor a =) ‘by 8 shelf tick concrete og Parts of a reactor: - Steel and concrete chamber: The chambers help to stop radiation from leaking out of the reactor. - Fuel rod: They are made of either uranium or plutonium. When slow moving neutrons hit the rods, the nuclei absorb them, and the fission reaction starts. It than continues as a chain reaction. - Moderator: The main purpose of the moderator is to slow down fast-moving neutrons so that they can be absorbed by the fuel rods. Graphite or water is used as the moderator. - Control rod: They are made of cadmium or boron. The main purpose of the control rod to absorb excess neutrons and thus control the rate of the nuclear reaction. Controlled fission reaction in a reactor: A single neutron (also called a thermal neutron) is introduced into the reactor from an external source. As it travels through the moderator. it slows down sufficiently for a uranium nucleus to absorb it. The nucleus becomes unstable and breaks down, releasing two or three more fast moving neutrons of its own Page 04u Be m me y 2 Unstable S88 ‘These neutrons in turn travel through the moderator, slowing down. They are eventually absorbed by other uranium nuclel in the next rod. This continues, and more and more neutrons and energy are released. ‘The control rods are now used to absorb excess neutrons and thus control the rate of the nuclear reaction. This is done by adjusting the position of the control rods within the reactor. The kinetic energy released with each reaction is converted to thermal eneray as the neutron travel through the moderator. This thermal eneray is absorbed by water that is fed into the reactor through copper pies with a large diameter (so the surface area is large as well). By the time the water exits the reactor, it has gained enough energy and converted into steam. The steam is then carried into the heat exchanger, where it loses energy to the water inside the exchanger. This causes the steam to cool back down into water and is pumped back into the reactor to repeat the process. The water inside the exchanger however, having gained thermal energy, has now converted to steam itself and accumulates at the top. When sufficient pressure has built up, the steam is released. This high energy steam now rushes into a steam turbine, causing it to rotate. The turbine is connected to an electrical generator, which produces electricity Ater rotating the turbine, the high-pressure steam loses energy and becomes low pressure steam, This is now pushed below into the condenser, where water from an external pool is pumped into it to absorb the energy from the steam and condense it back into water. This is now pumped back into the heat exchanger to repeat the process. ‘The heated water from the condenser is pumped out into external reservoirs where the heat is eventually dissipated to the surroundings. Energy flow diagram of a nuclear power station: Kinetie/Elecrcal ‘eneesy in goneratee Kinetic energy Thermal ene-ey ‘enerty ofneutron in maderator of steam ‘The primary form of energy loss in each stage is thermal energy. Page 05