The Radioactivity of Am(242),

Abstract

The neutron irradiation of 475-year Am(241) results in the production of a pair of isomers, Am(242m) with 16-hr half-life known to decay by beta emission and a long-lived ground state, Am(242), which is also a beta emitter and has weak alpha branching. Since fairly strong activities can be prepared by pile-neutron irradiation of small quantities of Am(241) it became feasible to examine the radiations, particularly those of Am(242), with beta-ray and X-ray spectrometers. When this was done, not only was the beta transition characterized, but good evidence was obtained that in addition this isomer undergoes appreciable branching decay by isomeric transition and by electron capture.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1950
Accession Number
ADA319233

Entities

People

  • G. D. O'kelley
  • G. W. Barton Jr.
  • I. Perlman
  • W. W. Crane

Organizations

  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Americium
  • Beta Decay
  • Electron Capture
  • Electron Energy
  • Electrons
  • Elements
  • Energy
  • Gamma Rays
  • Ground State
  • Internal Conversion
  • Isomeric Transitions
  • Neutron Bombardment
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Plutonium
  • Radioactive Decay
  • Transuranium Elements
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Solar Physics

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics