THE TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS

THE TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS

STUDIES IN SOVIET SCIENCE 1973 Motile Muscle and Cell Models N. I. Arronet Densification of Metal Powders during Sintering V. A. Ivensen The Transuranium Elements V. I. Goldanskii and S. M. Polikanov Pathological Effects of Radio Waves M. S. Tolgskaya and Z. V. Gordon Gas-Chromatographic Analysis of Trace Impurities V. G. Berezhin and V. S. Tatarinskii

STUD~SINSOWETSC~NCE THE TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS V. I. Gol'danskii Director, Nuclear Chemistry Division Institute of Chemical Physics Academy of Sciences of the USSR Moscow, USSR and s. M. Polikanov Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Dubna, USSR Translated from Russian by J. E. S. Bradley Senior Lecturer in Physics University of London London, England CONSULTANTS BUREAU' NEW YORK-LONDON

Gol'danskii, Vitalii losifovich. The transuranium elements. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data (Studies in Soviet science) Translation of Tiazhelee urana. 1. Transuranium elements. 2. Nuclear physics. I. Polikanov, Sergei Mikhailovich, joint author. II. Title. III. Series. QD172.T7G6413 ISBN 978 1-4684-8383-3 00110.1007/978-1-4684-8381-9 546'.44 73-83895 ISBN 978-1-4684-8381-9 (ebook) Vitalii losifovich Gol'danskii was born on June 18, 1923, in Vitebsk. In 1944 he was graduated from Moscow University; in 1954 he received his doctorate in physicomathematical sciences. He was appointed a professor in 1956 and was elected an associate member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1962. In 1966 he was awarded the Mendeleev prize. At present he heads the Nuclear Chemistry Division at the Institute of Chemical Physics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and he is editor-in-chief of the journal High-Energy Chemistry. His researches helped to lay the foundations of nuclear chemistry as the science of the interactions and reactions of atomic nuclei and elementary particles, as well as of effects on these from molecular and crystalline environments. His major contributions in this area have been to chemical Mossbauer spectroscopy and the physical chemistry of the positron and positronium. He is also internationally famous for his researches in nuclear physics: demonstration of two proton radioactivity, with a detailed theory of this; prediction of the properties of unknown neutron-deficient and neutron-excess isotopes; measurement of the polarizability of the proton in the Compton effect. Sergei Mikhailovich Polikanov was born in 1926 in Moscow; in 1950 he was graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, and in 1966 received his doctorate in physicomathematical sciences. In 1967 he was awarded a Lenin prize, and in 1971 he was appointed professor. At present he is director of a scientific division at the Joint Nuclear Research Institute in Oubna. His major researches have been concerned with experimental studies of the properties of transuranium elements, nuclear reactions produced by heavy ions, and nuclear fission. In 1962 he collaborated in the discovery of a new physical phenomenon, spontaneous fission of a nuclide in an isomeric state. The original Russian text, published by Nauka Press in Moscow in 1969, has been corrected by the authors for the present edition. This translation is published under an agreement with Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, the Soviet book export agency. TYAZHELEE URANA TlImeJlee ypaha V. I. Gol'danskii and S. M. Polikanov BumaJLuu HocurfJoeu'J, rojlbfjah,cnuu, Cepzeu MuxauJLoeu'l llojlwwh,ob 1973 Consultants Bureau, New York Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 sl edition 1973 A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 United Kingdom edition published by Consultants Bureau, London A Division of Plenum Publishing Company, Ltd. Davis House (4th Floor), 8 Scrubs Lane, Harlesden, London, NW10 6SE, England All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher

Preface to the English Edition Nearly three years have passed since the publication of the original Russian edition, in which time there have appeared various papers on recent research on the transuranium elements, of which the most notable concern the production of element 105 at Dubna and Berkeley. There has also been much fresh information on elements 104 (kurchatovium) and 103 (lawrencium). Our knowledge of shell effects in the fission barrier has been extended. Hopes of finding relatively stable superheavy elements have stimulated searches for such elements in nature as well as rapid development in heavyion acceleration. We may see some very considerable discoveries in the next few years. The new results vary in reliability, and so it is not surprising that some papers on the properties of the heaviest elements have given rise to vigorous debates, whose value lies in the way they advance the subject. We have not attempted to give an exhaustive survey of recent papers and have merely added brief sections to reflect what we consider to be the most important points from these. So far, the United states and the USSR have made the most considerable contributions to the synthesis, study, and use of the transuranium elements, so it is especially welcome to us that this book, first published in our country, should now appear in the USA in an English translation. V. I. Gol'danskii S. M. Polikanov v

Preface This book is a reworked and enlarged version of Gol'danskii's "New Elements in the Periodic System," which had editions of 1953, 1955, and 1964. In accordance with the title, we have eliminated all material on artificial elements in the middle of the periodic table, while we have revised and enlarged the descriptions of the properties and modes of synthesis and examination for the transuranium elements. Interest in the trans uranium elements has increased in recent years, in no small part due to the notable discoveries made at the Joint Nuclear Research Institute at Dubna. Element 104 has been made and named after the late I. V. Kurchatov, and it has been shown to have a transactinide nature. The properties of element 102 have been defined much more accurately, and this has brought about a reconsideration of the history of its discovery. New isotopes of other trans uranium elements have been made, and research has been done on the effect discovered at Dubna, namely, spontaneous fission from an excited (isomeric) state. These are all major contributions to research on the heaviest elements in the periodic system. Some interesting and unexpected observations have been made during the production of new isotopes in high-flux reactors and in underground explosions. Theoretical predictions on very remote transuranium elements have given rise to optimism on the synthesis of these; there is already mention of making particular isotopes of element 114 (ekalead) and even element 126. Recent researches have led to the design of accelerators to produce beams of any element, even uranium and the trans uranium vii

viii PREFACE elements, and for producing all types of reaction between complex nuclei. This all makes the present book very timely. As in previous versions of the book, the general popular description of methods of isolating and examining new elements is accompanied by more detailed information for readers especially interested in new elements.

Contents Introduction... 0 0 1 A tomic Structure........................ 2 Electron Shells of Atoms and Chemical Properties of the Elements........ 8 Nuclear Structure....................... 17 Nuclear Models........................... 21 Radioactive Decay............. 31 Radioactive Series.... 43 Nuclear Fission........................ 49 Methods of Recording Radioactive Decay of Isotopes of Transuranium Elements.................... 53 Element 93 - Neptunium... 0 0 57 Element 94 - Plutonium................... 62 Element 95 - Americium 72 Element 96 - Curium... 77 Element 97 - Berkelium. 81 Element 98 - Californium... 0 84 Heavy-Ion Accelerators............. 91 Rapid Methods of Recording Radioactive Decay of Isotopes of Transuranium Elements.... 96 Elements 99 and 100 - Einsteinium and Fermium.... 97 Element 101 - Mendeleevium.... 101 Element 102...................... 103 Element 103 - Lawrencium.... 109 Element 104 - Kurchatovium......... 111 Element 105 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 114 Location of the Transuranium Elements in the Periodic System 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 114 Radioactivity of Transuranium Isotopes and the Limit to the Elements. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 126 ix

x CONTENTS Reactions of Neutrons with Transuranium Isotopes. 141 Prospects for Making Isotopes of Transactinide Elements.... 144 Further Reading..... 161