Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Fractional independent yields of /sup 121/Ag and /sup 121/Cd from thermal-neutron fission of /sup 235/U

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5261227
The fractional cumulative yield of /sup 121/Ag and the fractional independent yield of /sup 121/Cd were determined from thermal-neutron induced fission of /sup 235/U. The SISAK continuous solvent extraction system was used to operate Ag and Cd rapidly during irradiation of an aqueous solution containing 93% enriched /sup 235/U. After allowing sufficient time for decay of all precursors, Sn was chemically separated and its beta decay followed on proportional counters. To utilize the SISAK system fully, it was first necessary to investigate rapid (approximately less than or equal to 1 sec) solvent extraction systems, and methods were developed which allowed the separation of silver from cadmium and cadmium from indium. The fractional yields obtained were used to determine the charge dispersion parameters sigma/sub Z/ and ..delta..Z for A = 121. The value of sigma/sub Z/ = 0.55 +/- 0.02 is about the same as the mean of sigma/sub Z/ for most fission products. The positive value of ..delta..Z = 0.42 +/- 0.03 is very different from the negative values found for most heavy fission products and supports with other data a zig-zag ..delta..Z function as symmetry is approached.
Research Organization:
Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (USA)
OSTI ID:
5261227
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English