Difference between revisions of "Mandatory Topic 1 (for MSc degree)"

Revision as of 23:22, 11 September 2012

Radioactivity, radionuclides and radiation

– principles of nuclear physics to radiochemists

Return to: Overview of Minimum Requirments

Aim

To teach NRC students the basic knowledge in nuclear physics in order to understand the nature
of radioactivity, reasons for stability/instability of nuclides, modes of radioactive decay
processes, types of radiation emitted in radioactive decay processes and the rate of radioactive
decay

Suptopics

• structure of atom and nucleus, nucleons
• nuclides, radionuclides, isotopes, isobars, nuclide charts
• types and origin of radionuclides (natural decay series, primary primordial radionuclides,
  secondary natural radionuclides, cosmogenic radionuclides, artificial radionuclides,
  formation and occurrence)
• stability of nuclei (stable nuclides vs. radionuclides, masses on nucleons, mass deficiency,
  binding energy, binding energy per nucleon, proton to neutron ratio, energy valley –
  semiempirical equation of mass – beta parabola, fission, fusion)
• modes of radioactive decay
  • fission (process, spontaneous vs. induced, energetics, formation of fission products, fission yields, fissionable/fissile, nature of fission products)
  • alpha decay (process, energetics, alpha recoil, decay to daughter’s ground state, decay to daughter’s exited state, formation of alpha spectrum)
  • beta decay (processes in beta minus decay, positron decay and electron capture, energetics, beta recoil, neutrino/antineutrino, distribution of decay energy, formation of beta spectrum, beta parabola for odd/even nuclides, secondary processes (gamma decay, formation of Auger electrons and X-rays, annihilation of positrons)
  • internal transition (gamma decay, internal conversion, energetics, gamma recoil,
    metastable isomeric states, formation of gamma spectrum) - rate of radioactive decay, half-life, activity units, activity concentrations vs. specific activity, activity vs. count rate, determination of half-lives, equilibria in successive decay processes - isotopic exchange - isotope effects - principles and uses of nuclear power reactors

Teaching Material from NukWik

• The Chart of the Nuclides - Problem set 1 - Solutions 1
• Mother-Daugther Relations and Equilibrium - Problem set 2 - Solutions 2
• Amount of Radioactive Material (number of nuclei, number of moles, weigth) and the Law of Radioactive Decay - Problem set 3 - Solutions 3
• Mass, Binding Energy and the Liquid Drop Model - Problem set 4 - Solutions 4