THE PREPARATION, PROPERTIES, AND USES OF AMERICIUM-241, ALPHA-, GAMMA-, AND NEUTRON SOURCES
A study was made of the preparation of alpha, gamma, and neutron sources using the long-lived radioisotope of americium, Am/sup 241/. Americium-241 is an artificiallyproduced radioelement which has a half-life of 462 plus or minus 10 years and decays to Np/sup 237/ by alpha emission followed by low-energy gamma emission. The high specific activity of americium-241 (7.0 x 10/sup 9/ d/m/mg) combined with its reasonably long half-life makes it ideally sulted for the preparation of radioactive sources. The chemical and physical properties of Am/ sup 241/ and the physical manipulations involved in fabricating alpha, gamma, and neutron sources are generally described in this report. Uses for each type of source are discussed and data are presented to indicate the respective properties and usefulness of each source type. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- NSA Number:
- NSA-16-029281
- OSTI ID:
- 4777909
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL-3335
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-62
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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