THE PRESENCE OF TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS IN NATURE (in Russian)
The various unsuccessful attempts to isolate transuranic elements in nature prior to the discovery of Pu/sup 239/ in nature by Seaborg and Pearlman in 1942 are briefly reviewed. Further investigation show that the ration of Pu/sup 239/ to uranium is (2.0 plus or minus 0.3) x 10/sup -11/, and that the ratio of Pu/sup 238/ >s to Pu/sup 239/ is less than 3 x 10/sup -6/. If the half life of Pu/sup 24/ s/sup 4/ is assumed to be 9.8 x 10/sup 7/ years, it is possible that approximately 10/sup -13/ gram of Pu/sup 244/ may exist in 34 kg of thorium in a natural ore. The principal sources of neutrons in natural minerals are due to the fission of U/sup 235/ and various ( alpha ,n) reactions. The ratio of Pu/sup 239/ to uranium is low in minerals such as carnotite and tyrite because they have a low uranium content and a high content of other elements that absorb neutrons. If it is assumed that U/sup 233/ is formed principally by the alpha decay of Np/ sup 237/, the ratio of Np/sup 237/ to U/sup 238/ >s is (1.8 plus or minus 0.4) x 10/sup -12/ (according to Peppard). The role of the fission of Cf/sup 254/ to explain the occurrence of supernovae is discussed briefly. 52 references. (TTT).
- Research Organization:
- Moscow State Univ.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-011353
- OSTI ID:
- 4084771
- Journal Information:
- Uspekhi Khim., Journal Name: Uspekhi Khim. Vol. Vol: 29
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- Russian
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Related Subjects
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY
ASTROPHYSICS
CALIFORNIUM 254
CARNOTITE
DECAY
DISTRIBUTION
EMISSION
FISSION
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, AND METEOROLOGY
HALF-LIFE
HYPERFRAGMENTS
NEPTUNIUM 237
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
ORES
PIONS
PIONS-MINUS
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 244
PYRITE
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIOACTIVE MINERALS
RADIOACTIVITY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
THORIUM
URANATES
URANIUM
URANIUM 233
URANIUM 235
URANIUM 238
URANIUM MINERALS