Scientists have obtained an isotope of uranium-214 with a very short half-life that can increase the efficiency of nuclear generators.
99% of uranium atoms that are naturally formedthus have 146 neutrons and 92 protons. Therefore, uranium-238 with a half-life of about 4.5 billion years is considered to be natural. Since all isotopes of an element must have the same number of protons, the researchers create new variants by changing the number of neutrons.
A team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences was able to obtain the lightest one to dateradioactive metal option with only 122neutrons, uranium-214. To do this, they bombarded a sample of tungsten with a beam of argon and calcium particles until they fused into the desired element. Such fusion is a very complex process, so from approximately 1 quintillion particles colliding with the target, only two uranium-214 nuclei were formed.
Analysis of the recovered samples showed that the periodtheir half-life is approximately 0.52 ms. Uranium-214 is subject to accelerated alpha decay, in which it loses two protons and neutrons at once, which indicates a strong interaction between subatomic particles in this isotope.
According to scientists, this ultralight versionradioactive metal can serve as a more efficient fuel for nuclear generators, and also opens up new possibilities for waste disposal with minimal impact on the environment.
Let us recall that since last year, physicists began to synthesize superheavy elements of the eighth period of the periodic table.
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