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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. M. Harbour, K. W. MacMurdo, F. J. McCrosson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 50 | Number 4 | April 1973 | Pages 364-369
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE73-A26571
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The partial 2200-m/sec equivalent neutron capture cross sections (σ2200) and neutron capture resonance integrals (Ic) of 432.7-yr 241 Am to produce 152-yr 242mAm and 16.01-h 242gAm were measured relative to 59Co standards. The number of 242mAm atoms produced per 241 Am target atom was determined by high precision mass spectrometry after chemical purification of americium. The number of 242gAm atoms produced per 241Am target atom was determined by measuring the alpha activity of its 164.4-day 242 Cm daughter. The measured values for 241 Am are as follows: σ2200 (to 242mAm) = 83.8 ± 2.6 b, Ic (to 242mAm) = 208 ± 18 b (0.369-eV cutoff), σ2200 (to 242gAm) = 748 ± 20 b, and Ic(to 242gAm) = 1330 ± 117 b (0.369-eV cutoff). Measured values are compared with those calculated from the ENDF/B-III neutron cross-section library.
