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Perpetual Atomics, QSA Global produce Am fuel for nuclear space power
U.K.-based Perpetual Atomics and U.S.-based QSA Global claim to have achieved a major step forward in processing americium dioxide to fuel radioisotope power systems used in space missions. Using an industrially scalable process, the companies said they have turned americium into stable, large-scale ceramic pellets that can be directly integrated into sealed sources for radioisotope power systems, including radioisotope heater units (RHUs) and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs).
R. E. Howe, J. C. Browne, R. J. Dougan, R. J. Dupzyk, J. H. Landrum
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 77 | Number 4 | April 1981 | Pages 454-462
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE81-A18958
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The fission neutron multiplicity, , of 242mAm(n,f) was measured relative to that of 235U(n,f) using the neutron time-of-flight facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 100-MeV electron Linac. Incident neutron energies ranged from 0.037 to 30 MeV. Fission fragments were detected using two hemispherical ionization chambers each containing ∼400 µg of 99.2% pure 242mAm. A separate fission chamber with 8.3 mg of 235U was situated between the two 242Am chambers and provided a normalization at every data point. Fission neutrons were detected in a liquid benzene scintillator using pulse-shape discrimination to separate gamma rays from neutrons. A comparison of the measured energy dependence of is made with semi-empirical models of neutron emission from the actinides.