SOVIET ATOMIC ENERGY VOLUME 21, NUMBER 2

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• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 12, 2013
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• Publication Date: August 1, 1966
• Content Type: REPORT

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ATOMHAR 3HEPrmA
(ATOMNAYA ENERGIYA)
TRANSLATED FROM RUSSIAN
Volume 21, Number 2
August, 1966
SOVIET
TOMIC
ENERGY(
CONSULTANTS. BUREAU
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SOVIET
ATOMIC
ENERGY
Soviet Atomic Energy is a cover-to-cover translation of Atomnaya
Energiya, a publication of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
'An arrangement with Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, the Soviet book
export agency, makes. available both advance copies Iof the Rus-
sian journal and original glossy photographs and artwork. This
serves to decrease the necessary time lag between publication
of the original and publication of the translation' and helps to im-
prove the quality of the latter. The translation began with the first
issue of the. Russian-journal.
'Editorial Board of Atomnaya Energiya:
Editor:.M. D.`Millionshchikov
t At r
m
ne
D' 1 f
t
t
it
gy
e o o
i
s
Deputy ire tor, nu
inieni I. V. Kurchatov
Academy of Sciences of the USSR
Moscow, USSR
Associate Editors:' N. 'A. Kolokol'tsov
N. A. Vlasov
A.?I Alikhanov
A. A. Bochvar
N. A. Dollezhal'
ti.
V. S.~Fursov
1. N. Golovin
V. F. Kalinin
A. K. Krasin
A. 1. Leipunskii
V. V.,Matvee~
'M.. G. Meshcheryakov
P. N, Palei
V. B. Sherchenko
D. L. Simonenko'
V. I. Smirnov
A. P. Vinogradov
'A. P..Zefirov
Copyright 0 1967. Consultants Bureau, a division of Plenum Publishing Corpora-
tion, 227 West 17th Street, New York,.N. Y. 10011'A11 rights reserved. No article
contained herein may be reproduced for any purpose whatsoever without per-
mission of the publishers. '
Subscription
(12lssuep): $95
0
Single Issue: $30'
Single Article: $15.
CONSULTANTS BUREAU
227 West 17th Street, New York,"New, York 10011
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SOVIET ATOMIC ENERGY
A translation of Atomnaya Energiya
Volume 21, Number 2 August, 1966
CONTENTS
Engl./Russ.
Chemical Properties of Element 104 -I. Zvara, Yu. T. Chuburkov, R. Tsaletka,
T. S. Zvarova, M. R. Shalaevskii, and B. V. Shilov . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . 709 83
Use of Nonuranium Diluents for Plutonium in Large Fast Breeder Reactors
-A. I. Leipunskii, O. D. Kazachkovskii, S. B. Shikhov, L. N. Yurova, V. V. Khromov,
A. N. Shmelev, and V. K. Sukhoruchkin ....................... . ..... .. 711 84
Determination of the Burnout of a Fuel Element from the Icebreaker Lenin on the Basis
of Cs137 Activity without Chemical Separation-N. F. Pravdyuk, V. I. Vikhrov,
S. Yu. Pavlov, and V. N. Perevezentsev ....... . .... ...... .......... . 719 92
Effect of the Parameters of a Research Reactor on the Flux of Thermal Neutrons
in the Reflector and the Cost of the Fuel-A. S. Kochenov ......... ........... 725 97
Calculation of the Tangential Stresses at the Wall of a Channel and the Velocity Distribution
in a Turbulent Flow of Liquid-M. Kh. Ibragimov, I. A. Isupov, L. L. Kobzar',
and V. I. Subbotin ............................................ 731 101
Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Some Properties of Heat-Resistant Concretes
-V. B. Dubrovskii, Sh. Sh. Ibragimov, A. Ya. Ladygin, and B. K. Pergamenshchik ..... 740 108
Radioactive Soft X-Ray Source for Physical Research,, Technology, and Medicine
-L. D. Danilin, S. I. Lobov, A. I. Pavlova-Verevkina, and V. A. Tsukerman ........ 745 112
Nucleonic Digital Servomechanism-Pavel Kovanic and Jaroslav Ryhl .... ... . . . .. ... 749 116
Calibration of Scintillation Counters with Allowance for Scattered Radiation
-M. B. Vasil'ev ............................................... 754 121
ABSTRACTS
Positron Generation in the Traversal of Thin Foils by Fast Electrons-A. V. Bautin
and V. M. Galitskii ............................................ 760 126
An Integral Equation for the Statistical Weights of Reactor Components-A. I. Mogil'ner ... 762 127
Neutron Transport in a Moving Medium-E. A. Garusov, A. A. Kostritsa,
and Yu. V. Petrov ................... .. ..... ...... .. ........... 764 128
Effectiveness of Stone Concrete in Accelerator Shielding-V. B. Dubrovskii, L. N. Zaitsev,
V. V. Mal'kov, and V. N. Solov'ev ... .. .... ........ ...... .. .. ... .. 766 128
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The VGL-2 Cryogenic Magnetic Trap-E. S. Borovik, F. I. Busol, B. V. Glasov,
V. A. Kovalenko, E. I. Skibenko, and V. B. Yuferov . ....... . ... .. . ...... .. 767 130
A Polarized-Ion Source with Current Strength of 1.2 pA-R. P. Slabospitskii,
I. M. Karnaukhov, I. E. Kiselev, and A. Ya. Taranov . ..... . . . ... ..... . .... 770 131
Use of Autoradiography to Monitor Nonuniformity in Layers of Actinide Elements
-A. T. Kazakevich and V. M. Surin .... .......... .... ............ 772 132
The Buildup Factor for Reflection of Radiation for Counters with Various Lower Energy
Thresholds-M. B. Vasil'ev and M. A. Merkel' .......... . .... ...... ... .. 775 134
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CONTENTS
Engl./Russ-
Scattering of y -Radiation from Ra226 and Cs137 by a Surface of Earth or Water
-M. B. Vasil'ev ...................................... ......
777
135
The' Ratio between the Input and Output Concentrations of Radioactive Gas Passing
through a DZ-70 Chamber-I. I. Kornilenko, V. A. Zybin, and A. L. Bochkov ......
780
137
Rapid Measurement of the Concentrations of Aerosols of Long-Lived a-Active Isotopes
of the Order of 10-16-10-17 Ci/liter and Aerosols of Thoron Disintegration Products
-0. A. Chutkin and V. E. Vishnyakov ................................
782
138
Measurement of the Activity of Gases by Means of a Spherical Ionization Chamber
-V. A. Bazhenov, V. V. Bochkarev, Yu. M. Golubev, I. V. Levin, T. N. Sokolova,
and A. D. Turkin .............................................
787
141
NEWS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
VI Inter-University Conference on Electron Accelerators-A. M. Gromov ..............
789
143
XVI Annual Conference on Nuclear Spectroscopy and Nuclear Structure-N. A. Voinova....
792
145
[International Seminar on Desalinization of Water ............................
146]
[Use of Nuclear Methods in Hydrology and Hydrogeology ........................
147]
Gamma Rays and Carotin-A. S. Nikolaeva ..... .. ..
795
148
The MSh-P-5 Ball-and-Swivel Manipulator-G. I. Lukishov, V. P. Smirnov,
and K. D. Rodionov ........................... ...............
796
149
[Trade and Industrial Exhibition in Burma .................................
150]
French Exhibition of Measuring Instruments and Electronics ... .. .. ... .. ....... ..
798
151
[English Equipment for Neutron Activation Analysis ..... .......................
152]
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS ............................................
800
154
The Table of Contents lists all material that appeared in the original Russian journal.
Items origi-
nally published in English or generally available in the West are not included in the translation and
are shown in brackets. Whenever possible, the English-language source containing the omitted items
is given.
The Russian press date (podpisano k pechati) of this issue was 7/30/1966.
Publication therefore did not occur prior to this date, but must be assumed
to have taken place reasonably soon thereafter.
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I. Zvara, Yu. T. Chuburkov,
R. Tsaletka, T. S. Zvarova?M. R. Shalaevskii,
and B. V. Shilov
Using a method of rapid continuous separation of elements of the side groups III and IV of the D. I.
Mendeleev Periodic System, developed by the authors of this work, the properties of the chlorides
of curium, californium, hafnium, and the isotope 104260 were compared.
The isotope 104260 had until now been identified only by physical methods. It was estab-
lished that its chemical properties differ from those of the actinide elements and are close to
those of hafnium. An independent confirmation of the atomic number of the new nucleus was
obtained, and it was simultaneously demonstrated that the element 104 is a member of group
IV. In the experiments, 12 atoms of the isotope 104260 were recorded.
In [1] it was reported that, when Pu242 is irradiated by accelerated Ne22 ions, the spontaneous fissioning iso-
tope 104260, with a half-life of - 0.3 sec, is formed. Physical methods were used to determine the atomic number
and mass number of the isotope synthesized. It was demonstrated that the excitation function has the form ex-
pected for the reaction Pu242(Ne22, 4n)104260. The value of the effective cross section at the maximum (2 ? 10-34
cm2 at a particle energy of 113-115 MeV) is close to the value predicted on the basis of empirical principles. In
control experiments with other targets and bombarding particles, in which 104260 could not be formed, the iso-
tope with the properties indicated above was not observed.
Considering the difficulty of studying the products of nuclear reactions with such low yields (approximately
one atom in five hours of operation of the accelerator), the authors of [1] emphasize the importance of conducting
chemical experiments for additional identification and a simultaneous study of the chemical properties of the
new element.
According to the well-known actinide hypothesis [2], in the series of transuranium elements, there is a filling
of the atomic 5f-electron shell, which leads to an analogy of the properties of these elements to the lanthanides.
Element 103 should possess 14 5f-electrons. Element 104 should be the next member of the 6d-transition series,
i.e., an analog of hafnium, and conseqeuntly, should differ sharply in chemical properties from the transuranium
elements up to 103, synthesized in recent years.
For a chemical identification of element 104, the authors of this work undertook an attempt to compare the
properties of the chlorides of curium, californium, hafnium, and the new element.
Earlier the authors of this work had developed a method of rapid continuous separation of the elements of
the side groups III and IV of D. I. Mendeleev's Periodic System in the form of the gaseous chlorides [3, 4]. The
products of nuclear reactions, flying out of a rather thin target on account of recoil, are chlorinated by reaction
with NbCl5 or ZrC14 in the vapor phase. The chlorides of the radioactive isotopes of zirconium and hafnium ob-
tained are transported by the gas flow to a radiation detector. In this case, under the selected conditions, the
chlorides of elements of group III are retained on the walls of the gas tract and on special filters on account of
adsorption. The apparatus designed permits chemical operations with recoil atoms close to the irradiated targets,
directly in the chamber of the cyclotron. The process of analysis is continuous and is conducted in a fraction of
a second from the moment of formation of the atom.
Chemical experiments with the isotope 104260 were conducted on the multicharged ion accelerator of the
United Institute of Nuclear Research. A target of Pu02 (700 ?g/cm2), applied on aluminum foil, was used. Plu-
tonium of the same composition as in [1], containing 97?7o of the isotope Pu242, was used. The target was irradiated
with Ne22 ions with an energy of 114 MeV at a beam intensity of - 2 ? 1012 particles/sec.
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 83-84, August, 1966. Original article submitted
May 18, 1966.
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A mixture of NDLi5and Lrci4 vapors (3: 1) was used as the chlorinating agent and carrier, with a total partial
pressure of - 0.2 mm. The basic component of the gas mixture '.(by volume) was nitrogen, at a pressure
of - 1.5 atm.
The fragments of spontaneous fission were indicated with mica detectors [5], which were washed with the
stream of gas transporting the chlorides of elements of group IV. Directly before the experiment, the detectors
were treated to remove the accumulated background from the spontaneous fission of the uranium impurity in the
mica [6]. They were placed in a paraffin-cadmium shield, so as to reduce the possibility of fission of uranium
under the influence of the neutron radiation of the accelerator.
Two series of experiments were conducted. In the first series the temperature of the gas tract was at a level
of 220-250?C. The time of passage of the gas flow from the target to the detector was equal to - 0.2 sec; the dura-
tion of motion of the gas along the detector was - 1.2 sec (the area of the detectors was 1400 cm2). No more than
0.4 sec was required for the chlorination and transport of the isotopes Hf170 and Hf171 to the detector; there were
no losses of hafnium in the chemical process. At the same time, there was a separation of the isotopes of curium,
californium, and scandium, with a purification factor of - 50. At an integral flux of 4. 1018 particles onto the tar-
get, i.e., in - 600 h of irradiation, four acts of fission were recorded, which is approximately 10 times lower than
the effect expected from the isotope 104260. Estimates of the possible background (spontaneous and forced fission
of uranium impurities) give a value of no more than one event in the entire series of experiments.
In the second series of experiments, the temperature of the gas tract was raised to 300-350?C. The time of
recording was 0.7 sec. In the presence of an integral flux of 6 ? 1017 particles on the target, i.e., in 90 h, eight
acts of fission were recorded, which corresponds to the expected effect. The coefficient of purification from curium,
californium, and scandium remained at the previous level. The distribution of all 12 acts of fission according to
time intervals does not contradict the half-life 0.3 ? 0.1 sec, determined in [1] according to approximately 100 events.
The results cited show that the isotope synthesized is not similar to the heavy actinide elements in itschemi-
cal properties, and in certain properties of the higher chloride it is close to hafnium.
Thus, an independent identification of the atomic number of the nucleus studied was made by a chemical
method, confirming the conclusion drawn in [1]. At the same time, it was demonstrated that the element 104 is
a member of Group IV of the Periodic System.
The authors would like to express deep gratitude to Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of
the USSR, G. N. Flerov, for formulating the problem, for his numerous discussions, and his constant attention and sup-
port during the performance of the work; and are also grateful to V. P. Perelygin and S. P. Tret'yakova for their
aid in the work with mica detectors, to L. K. Tarasov, M. Krzhivanek, Ya. Maly, I. V. Kolesov, and T. D. Zaitseva
for their aid in developing the method, to K. A. Gavrilov for preparing the targets, and to the group operating the
Y-300 accelerator for providing the work of the machine.
1. G. N. Flerov et al., Atomnaya Energiya, 17, 310 (1964).
2. G. Seaborg, in the Collection: The Actinides [Russian translation], Editors G. Seaborg and J. Katz, Moscow,
Izd. Inostr. Lit. (1955), p. 594.
3. I. Zvara et al., Radiokhimiya, 8, 77 (1966).
4. I. Zvara et al., Preprint of the United Institute of Nuclear Research, R-25-48, Dubna (1966).
5. P. Price and R. Walker, Phys. Letters, 3, 113 (1962).
6. A. Kapustsik et al., Preprint of the United. Institute of Nuclear Research, R-2705, Dubna (1966).
All abbreviations of periodicals in the above bibliography are letter-by-letter translitera-
tions of the abbreviations as given in the original Russian journal. Some or all of,this peri-
odical literature may well be available in English translation. A complete list of the cover-to-
cover English translations appears at the back of the first issue of this year.
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USE OF NONURANIUM DILUENTS FOR PLUTONIUM
A. I. Leipunskii, O. D. Kazachkovskii, UDC 621.039.526:621.039.543.466
S. B. Shikhov, L. N. Yurova,'V. V. Khromov,
A. N. Shmelev, and V. K. Sukhoruchkin
The authors study the physical characteristics of fast breeder reactors with cylindrical and ring-
shaped cores, and also the characteristics of infinite lattices of heterogeneously-arranged large
fuel cassettes distributed in the breeding-zone material.
It is shown that there are certain reactors with optimum doubling period.
In fast breeder reactors, there is a tendency to use fertile material (U238, Th232 or their compounds) as diluent
of the main fissile isotope in the core for the production of secondary fuel.
In reactors with a cylindrical core surrounded on all sides by the breeding zone, this achieves higher repro-
duction factors (RF) than those of reactors with other (nonfertile) diluents.
With a nonfertile diluent for the. plutonium, the reproduction factor of the core (RFC) is equal to zero,
while the reproduction factor of the screen (RFS) falls rapidly with increasing core size (the relative number of
neutrons emitted into the screen goes down).
This fact limits the interest taken in nonfertile plutonium diluents, even if they have several advantages
over fertile material (stability under high burnup and high temperatures, simplicity or cheapness of processing,etc.).*
The strict requirements which must be imposed on nonfertile diluents considerably narrow the range of choice.
They must-possess low elastic and inelastic slowing-down cross sections for fast neutrons, and also low capture cross
sections for fast neutrons. Such a diluent is called "inert." In choosing it, we must confine ourselves either to
weakly capturing nuclei (zirconium and its compounds) or to magic nuclei (Sr88, Ba138, etc.). But even in this case,
attempts to use high powers (and hence large volumes) for the core lead to much lower RF than those for reactors
with U238 as plutonium diluent.
Let us take an example. A fast breeder reactor with thick enough breeding zone of U238, with a uranium
plutonium alloy in the core, a sodium heat-exchanger and stainless steel as structural material, has about the same
RF (about 2)t for core volumes Va ranging from 250 to 1000 liters.
If the plutonium diluent in the core is zirconium, then, with other conditions unaltered and Va=250 liters,
RF= 1.7, while with Va= 1000 liters, RF= 1.3. If we take iron as diluent, then with Va= 250 liters, RF = 1.6, but with
Va = 1000 liters, RF = 1.2. Inert diluents (barium and strontium) give RF = 1.85 when Va = 250 liters, RF = 1.60 when
Va = 1000 liters.
Thus, even if we use efficient diluents (with magic nuclei), the RF decreases markedly when we go from
small to large cores.
It is therefore of interest to seek a reactor of high power, but such that even a "poor," noninert diluent shall
be positioned so that the RF is close to that of a fast reactor of the same power with plutonium diluted by uranium.
its capture by U238 shall be as small as possible. This requirement is satisfied, for example, by reactors with thin
*The idea of using nonfertile plutonium diluents in fast reactors was first suggested by O. D. Kazachkovskii [1].
tWithout allowing for losses associated with the actual construction of the apparatus.
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 84-92, August, 1966. Original article submitted
March 30, 1966.
It is clearly necessary for this purpose that the mean number of collisions suffered by a fission neutron before
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TABLE 1. Characteristics of Cylindrical Reactor with Core of Heat Power W = 1000 Mw (H/D=0.5; coolant, sodium)
o
o
+ARF
B ARF
T2, years
bD U
o
N
Cd
, o O
w
o
U ?~
3
o
9
v
ff
a
U
8
= v
(
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RF
T
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c
Tp
e
f)8
-1)
~C1)9
f 9
p,
.
.
.
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C c
c