American physicists at U.C. Berkeley were soon to discover they could force uranium-238 to decay into plutonium-239 ... so they can’t sustain a nuclear chain reaction. That’s what makes ...

The exposure of fissile isotopes to neutrons results in rapid nuclear decay, along well-known decay chains into a range of different isotopes. Some of these are helpful – like fissile Pu-239 ...

This is the nuclear chain reaction. If the material is all ... or have a short enough half-life that they decay away in days or months, some in seconds. While there some long-lived fission ...

scientists believe that about 20 TW is generated by radioactive decay – 8 TW from the uranium-238 decay chain; 8 TW from the thorium-232 decay chain and the final 4 TW from potassium-40. Fortunately, ...

The isotope they sought would decay to actinium, which was always found with uranium but was known to be the parent of an unknown natural radioactive decay chain distinct from that of uranium 238, the ...

Fission can occur spontaneously, via natural decay, or through controlled chain reactions initiated by people. Either way, the process releases a tremendous amount of energy. Nuclear power plants ...

Decay products of U-238 include thorium-234 (Th-234), protactinium ... uranium is not effectively transported in the food chain. Depleted uranium in the soil will be in an oxidized, soluble chemical ...

“Levels of (lead-210) in key samples were well above background activities, and were significantly out of secular equilibrium with other members of the uranium decay chain,” the authors wrote.

the high neutron/proton ratio of uranium will tend to readjust itself by beta decay to the lower value suitable for lighter elements. Probably each part will thus give rise to a chain of ...