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The effect of metallic environment and low temperature on the 253Es α decay rate

Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics volume 72, pages 315–318 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

In recent publications it has been pointed out that the α decay of transuranic elements in nuclear waste can be considerably speeded up by putting them into metals. The proposed mechanism is based on the effect of electron screening of radioactive nuclei (according to the Debye electron plasma model), which grows enhanced as temperature decreases. To verify the predicted phenomenon, half-lives of 253Es nuclei implanted in a metallic iron foil were measured at the temperature from 4 K to 50 mK. The results agree with the room-temperature data reported in the literature; no temperature dependence of the half-life was found within the error of ≈2%.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119312, Moscow, Russia

    G. M. Gurevich & A. V. Rusakov

  2. Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, 119992, Moscow, Russia

    A. L. Erzinkyan & V. P. Parfenova

  3. Helmholtz Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Universität Bonn, D-53115, Bonn, Germany

    P. -D. Eversheim, P. Herzog & C. Tramm

  4. Research Institute for Atomic Reactors, 433510, Dimitrovgrad, Russia

    V. T. Filimonov, Yu. G. Toporov & E. Zotov

  5. Instituut voor Kern- en Stralingsfysica, K.U. Leuven, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

    V. V. Golovko, I. S. Kraev, T. Phalet & N. Severijns

  6. Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, 61108, Kharkov, Ukraine

    A. A. Lukhanin & A. A. Belyaev

  7. RFNC All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, 607190, Sarov, Russia

    V. N. Vyachin

  8. Nuclear Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 25068, Řež, Czech Republic

    D. Zakoucky

Authors
  1. G. M. Gurevich
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  2. A. L. Erzinkyan
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  3. P. -D. Eversheim
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  4. V. T. Filimonov
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  5. V. V. Golovko
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  6. P. Herzog
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  7. I. S. Kraev
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  8. A. A. Lukhanin
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  9. A. A. Belyaev
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  10. V. P. Parfenova
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  11. T. Phalet
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  12. A. V. Rusakov
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  13. N. Severijns
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  14. Yu. G. Toporov
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  15. C. Tramm
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  16. V. N. Vyachin
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  17. D. Zakoucky
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  18. E. Zotov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. M. Gurevich.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © G.M. Gurevich, A.L. Erzinkyan, P.-D. Eversheim, V.T. Filimonov, V.V. Golovko, P. Herzog, I.S. Kraev, A.A. Lukhanin, A.A. Belyaev, V.P. Parfenova, T. Phalet, A.V. Rusakov, N. Severijns, Yu.G. Toporov, C. Tramm, V.N. Vyachin, D. Zakoucky, E. Zotov, 2008, published in Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Fizicheskaya, 2008, Vol. 72, No. 3, pp. 340–343.

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Cite this article

Gurevich, G.M., Erzinkyan, A.L., Eversheim, P.D. et al. The effect of metallic environment and low temperature on the 253Es α decay rate. Bull. Russ. Acad. Sci. Phys. 72, 315–318 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1062873808030106

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Keywords

  • Metallic Iron
  • Nuclear Orientation
  • Regular Site
  • Transuranic Element
  • Oriented Nucleus