G SETHE tomer o KUMAR : TABLE OF CONTI Introdnetion O Wesiew of Math. & Physical Concepts 20 Momie and Nuclear Strnetures 3 activity sAO Interaction of Charged Particles with Matter \£0 Radioactive Decay Processes (0.8.4LC. B.C. f°) we Thteraction af Photons with Matter % Dose Quantities and Units »3¢ Interaction of Neutrons with Matter \diation Protection - Dose Limits nd Measurement of Radiation « 1 & I Uistion Shielding + - Fabinbon iE 9 - Fa Bolege Racing Sh, Doel t+ Aseldava )- 18 O Bots Redvegrep — © 4 ‘ Pretchm @ Pepa fey 5 IsCy & INTRODUCTION ORJECTIV The course is a one week intensive course that prepares the participant to acquire Knowledge in the principles of radiation protection essential fey the licensing of adiation workers and radiation safety officers. The licensin Abdelaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh (KACST Sxamnination and having an interview. KACST is the Comperent Authority in Saudi Arsen, represented by the Atomic Rescarch Insitute (ARI) at KACST The director OL ARI is Dr. Khalid Al-Sulaiman, Tel, (01) 488 3555 ext. 163, oF 4813635, Fax (01) 4813887, 4813658 ‘The participant after finishing the course should learn the following points: 1 Radiodetivity, o, B, and y decays, decay law, Tyo, activity, decay constant, Imeractions of photons, charged particles, and neutrons with matter. interaction Processes with photons, stopping powers and ranges of charsed particles, clative hazards for each interaction, Radiation detection, and detectors: Methods of radiation detection, Geiger-Muller counters, ionization chambers, Nal scintillation counters, neutron detectors, liquid itillation counters. : 4 Redistion dose quantities and units, dose calculation: Absorbed dose, cquivalest dose, effective dose, committed effective dose, kerma, exposure, weighting factors, 5. Types of radiation sources: Natural radiation sources, maa-made radiation sources, 6 Biological effects of radiation, somatic effects, and hereditary effects, 7 Radiation protections standards, regulations, and procedures: System of radiation Protection, the principle of ALARA, dose limits, radiological como! asd intervention, &. Radiation shielding: Gamma ray shielding, beta ray shielding, neutron shielding, % Packaging and transport of radioactive materials: Types of packages, types of ‘abels used in the transport of radioactive materials, transport index. 10. Exposure evaluation techniques for extemal and internal radiation sourcesey Caltrain of menue had quality ascurace prow 8 Need fer nstrume beaten metiads of calbraton, reterence stiniards, establechn amplemennecnan of uaiily assurance proge > Wisie mmnavetnest pes of mdhonctive wastes, sethors of disposition of the vast Operational surveys and inspections: principles of lik monitoring, radiation monuorins “and suovey égutrements, alpha, bets, and neutron radiation ‘monttorings, mixed beta-gamma fields, and surface contamination "4 Ratioactive material handling and regulations in. Saudi Arabia: an expose of the national regulations 15 Emergency response plan for accidents involving radioactive materials: sources of hazards and potenti accidents, the emergency response plan From the experimental par, the participant should know how to use calibrated survey meters in measuring dose rates. |ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Radiation Protection Group of the Energy Resources Division, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals is Successfully offering a short course on “The Principles of Radiation Protection” since 1990, two times a year in the month of May and November, This special edition of the: short course n .. designed for a period of two weeks, Contributions of the following members in writing, Preparing and delivering lectures of this manual is greatly acknowledged: Dr. M.S. Abdelmonem. Energy Resources Division, Research Institute, Dr. Falah Abu-Jarad, Energy Resources Division, Research Institute. Dr. Motaheruddin Ahmed. Energy Resources Division, Research Institute. Dr. Meyessar Al-Haddad, Energy Resources Division, Research Institute. Mr. Mahmoud Haleem. Energy Resourcss Division, Research Institute. Mr. M. Azadul Islam, Energy Resources Division, Research Institute. Dr. M. I. Al-Jarallah, Physics Department, KFUPM. Dr. Khamis An-Nahdi, Energy Resources Division, esearch Institute, Dr, Rafat Nassar, Energy Resources Division, Research Institute. Zhe support and encouragement of Prof, Abdulaziz Al-Suvaiyan, Manager of the Energy Resources Division is highly appreciated, The efforts and patience of Mr. K. Anthony Jose, ané Mr. A. Zakir Hussain of the Energy Resources Division in typing this manual is also acknowledged,10 2.58 x i0-¢ 2.58 x 10-7 sisvert (Sv) miillisievert (mSvi millisievere (mSv} gray (Gy} milligray (mGy) nithagauon Protection Group Energy Research Laboratory Research Institute/KFUPM coneersion bntaren abt wt St nats Livtieew (mae) = 10°" rae + 10 mcregray Opp) Line (ra) Leads 10 miltgray 0 mGy) Hora (i kraa) 10? eas 210 grav (a0 Gy) Frsenored (1 trac) + 20° rag 10 kilegeay (10 Gy) Se Leweroeray CL pv) = 10°S Gy 5 100 microred (200 rad) tecittigesy my) = 10" Gy = 100 miles (100 mead) L aeay aay) bo Gy = 100 rs (100 rad) Letogay 1 4Gy) 10? Gy 5 100 Aiterad (100 ead) OSE EQUIVALENT (H) : 2 milirem (Levee) = 10°? rem = 10 anicrosievert (16 pv) Lem (Lem) 5 1 rem = 10 millisievert (10 mv) 1 silorem (1 keem) = 103 rem = 10 severe (a se) Lmegarem (1 Mem) = 10 kitosievere (10 kS¥) 1 microsievert (2 pS) = 107 Sy = 100 microremm (100 prem) 1 eillisievere (1 mv) = 10°? Svs 109 mille (100 encem) 1 seve 1 ealenievert Qs) 21 se xs 210? sy = 100 rem. (2100 rem) = L0Dkilorem (100 seem} ACTIVITY (a) 1 picoeurie UL pci) = 27 millibecqueret (37 ma) Lnanecurie UL ni = 37 becquerel (37 8a) 1 miczoeurie (1 yi) 37 kilobecquerst (37 i8q) 1 milicurie (1 -mei) 2 17 megabecquerel(37 Mig) & cutie ac 17 sigabecqueret (37 G8a) Lhilecurie (4c) | 37 terabecqueret (37 Tea L messcurie (1 MCI) MT petabeequeret (37 Bq) Lgigsesrie © cect) sxadecquerel (37 €8q) Pbecquerel (6g) = 1 Bq =~ 27.0) picoeuie (27.03 pc) J kilobecquerel (1 K6q) = 10° Bq = ~ 27.03 nanocurie (27.03 Ci) 1 megabecquerel(1 MBq) 21.03 microcwie (27.03 pCi) 2 aigabeequerel (1 Bq) ~ 27.05 silicic (27:03 mCi} 1 tersbecquerel (1 184) 5927.03 eurie (27.09 Ci) 1 petabecavere! (1 P8q) ~27.03 kilocune (27.03 KC) 1 exabecquerel Q &8q) + ~ 2,03 megacutie( 27.03. MCi) ea yore For some, gernsos m & Fadiation protection purposes, the uncertainties are such tnat there 15 90 nved to use the exact conversion fi tors between curies and becquerels toute > 4s 10 7 ccauerel sa 1 becave ‘ n to! cane,j 1 BASIC INFORMATION Ll OBJECTIVE, ‘To review the base principles of mathematics and physics necessary to master the subject matter of radiation protection. 12 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION @ ‘A number is said to be in “Scientific Notations" if it is expressed as the product of a number between | and 10 and some integral power of 10, Example: 1000 in scientific notation written as 1x10° or 10? 0.0001 . J} o- 107 0.000186 * . . Advantages: 1. Very large and very small numbers can be written more compactly. © 2. Aneestimate of the result is obtained quickly Used widely by scientists to indicate the precision of measurements 13 OPERATION WITH SCIENTIFIC NOTATION (@ Addition and subtraction: 163 x 10° 2.8.x 10° Lo3x 10'+0.28%10' = 191 x 108 SOEs 10'-3.2<105 = 5014 108-0325 t= 114.69 x 108 (b) Multiplication and division (1.245 x 10°) x (2.70. 1 (1.245 x 2.70) x 10°? = 3.36 x 10° 14 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES Addition: 1.2345 + 12.56 = 13.7945 = 13.79 Subtraction: 1.25 x 10-987 = 1.25 x 10*- 0.0987 x 10 (1.25 - 0.10) x 10*= 1.15 x 10" In addition and subtraction (oe The answer is limited to the number of signifi which has the fewest,Multiplying: 18x23 1 18.0 x 2.30= 41.4 Dividing: 9.439 / 25.68 = 0.0171 { In multiplication and division: he answer is limited to the number of significant figures in the term which] contains the fewest. 1s CONSISTENCY OF UNITS Understanding the mathematics involved with a particular problem is necessary but not sufficient. To ensure the correct answer; you must use concisten units, Example: Aimad works over-time at the fagtory on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 30SKVhr. Since his time each week varies, the following equation was developed to compute his pay each week, (AtBEC)R=D where Ais the time worked on Monday Bis the time worked on Tuesday Cis the time worked on Wednesday R is his rate of pay Dis the amount of paycheck Problem | Ahmad worked 2 hr on Monday, 3.5 hr on Wednesday, and 6 hr on Friday. Compute his pay for this week. (+35 +6) 30345 SR Check units (hr + hr hr) SR/ar = SRProblem 2 Ahmad worked 120 min on Monday, 12,600 sec on Wednesday, and 6 hr on Friday. Compute his pay for this week. 120 12600 (ey + Sep +0) = 34588 Check units EARP » SCN iy Sem = SR The following radiation protection technology problems illustrate the use and need for consistent units, Assume the allowable exposure to radiation is 60 mRday. If peison must work in a field of 1 R/hr, how long can a person work in this area so as not to exceed this © limit? mR milliroentgen R roentgen Per day maximum time (T) x exposure = limit Limit _ 60 mR/day | 1R___ Exposure = IRyhr * 1000 mk = 0.06 he/day or 2 O6he x Oi 5.6 minlday Note: 1 R = 1,000 mR @ 16 GRAPHING PARTICLES Figure 2.1.1 is given as example for plowing the data as a graph. Some rules need to be considered in graphing. These are as follow: Some Rules for Graphing 1. Choose scate factors which will use the entice graph. no ‘Try to make scale divisions at 1, 2, or 5, 3. Label each axis with the quantity represented as well as the numerical scale factors, 4. Plot the independent varisble on the horizontal axis and the dependent on the vertical axis. 14Use a symbol such as x oF A to clearly show the data points, (0 draw a smooth curve through the data points OF bars, #10 represent one standard deviation in the data point. Figure La, Relation between exposure and charge collected.17 FUNCTIONS Samples of various function are \vritten as follow: | | | Pe “vay absorption O€ (atomic mmber)3 (a) Power Functions, Hey, afrt (b) Exponential Functions. a | y a Figure 1. Plot of exponential function yze “x,Samples of tite solutions of exponential equations are as follows: ~ General Form y=¢% Find x: Take the natural logarithm of bath sides Iny = In(exy | Cc But the In (eX) = x by definition, So,x=Iny Specific Example - Find when a sample will ave decayed to I/3 the inicial activity if. = 0.10 dart 1/3 = e-At = ¢-O1 (al) | In 1/3 = In 1.099 = 0.10 (dal =1.099 5 = I ** To ctocdarh = Uda Ls BASIC PHYSICS REVIEW | Structure of the matter * The smallest unit of a chemical compound which stilt retains the physical and chemical properties ofthe original substance is termed a molecule ‘The component parts of molecules = atom. An atom is the smallest unit of a chemical element such as gold, carbon which hhas all the physical and chemical properties of that element. ‘When atom are divided into even smaller units, the particles found are electron, proton and neutrons 17‘a atoni consists of a nucleus surrounded by a sufficient number of electrons to provide electrical neutrality oN gure 13. The stable fluorine atom ( op). The nucleus contains 9 protons and 10 neutrons. Figure 14. The Ionization of an atom, Ionization Ionization is a process whereby electror neutral atom or molecule. This process resu Positivel charged residue. ns may be removed from or added to a "ts in an ion pair: the free electron and the Particle Dynamics The velocity (v) of a pani cle (nv/sce) is vector quantity in which both speed and direction must be specified.ay ‘Tae ueceleration (a) of a part velocity. le (m/sec?) is defined as the time rate of change of The force F which acts on a particle is defi ined in terms of products of the acceleration and the mass m ofthe object Fema Units: N = kg. asec? Momentum ofa particle = mass x velocity Pemxy msec) Work and Energy Work = Force x distance 8 the capacity for doing work “n object has energy by vinte of its positon and by vinue ofits motion, Potential energy (Ep ): is energy of position Potential energy = Weight x height) Ep = (mg) (n) = (kg. misec?)(m) = kg msec? Ep = m.g.h, (kg.m/sec?m) Kinetic energy (Ey) + is energy of motion Ex= U2 mv? Num = ke m’/sec? : Charged Particles Force of aur ‘action of repulsion between wo electri 4, separated b ic charges of magnitude a, distance is calculated from Coulomb's law and is expressed as 1-9F=(K qiq, )/? = Newton K is the dielectric constant 4.9, : charges in Coulomb r distance between charges in m. electron charge = -1.6 x 10°"? Coulombs proton charge = +1.6 x 10"? Coulombs The Electron Volt Radiation energy is expressed in electron vols (eV) © One eV sis the energy gained by an electron in passing through an electrical potential of one volt I KeV = 1000eV 1 MeV = 1000 KeV = 100,000 ev 1.9 SOME BASIC PHYSICS DEFINITIONS Velocity : (¥): The time rate Of change of position in some direction (v= x/) Acceleration (a): The time rate of change of velocity (a 7) Force: (F): A push or pull exerted on some object Work (W): The product of the force on an object times the distance through which it moves (W =F. d) Power (P): the time rate of doing work (Work/Time} Energy (E): The ability to do work Gravitational Potential Energy (PE): The energy associated with position (m gh) Kinetic Energy (KB): The energy of motion (1/2 mv?) Charge (q): The possession of electrical potential energy Jon: An atom with a nonzero charge Current (I) Electric charges in motion, unit: Ampere (Charee/Time) 1-10Voltage V): The amount of elecir ‘cal potential difference [in volt Resistance (R): Retarding of current flow (unit: Ohm) Ohm's Law I = WR Current = Voltage/Resistance Ampere = VoltageOhmSTRUCTURE OF THE ATOM AND THE NUCLEUS 2.1, Introduction All materials~solid, liquid or yas. Containing two or more elements chemically | £2 naturally occurring elements (hydrogen to uranium) and another dozen or so have been produced antficially (e.g., plutonium, americium etc). At normal temperature and pessure, 10 elements are in the gaseous state, namely hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, sige, me atgon, fluorine, chlorine, krypton, xenon and radon, and 2 are in the liquid mare, {amely bromine and mercury. The rest are in the solid state the majority being metals and a few are non-metals Molecules are the smallest parts of a compound that are still representative of the original substance. Each molecule consis of atoms which are the smallest parts Of the elements forming the molecule. For example, a molecule of water (HO) contains = atoms of the element hydrogen and 1 atom of the clement oxygen. Each atom of an clement has the same property as that of the element and differs fran an atom of another element. While the ultimate parts of elements are atoms, several elements in ules rather than atoms. For instance, the elements Srathey at oxvgen exist in molecular forms with 2 atoms each. However, molesales oF other gaseous elements, namely helium and argon are composed of circa atoms Atoms are very small indeed. Average diameter of an atom is of the order of 10° cm, Average mass of an atom is Of the order of 10 y. Atomic Structure ‘An atom consists of @ central core called the nucleus, surrounded by clectfons which revolve around the nucleus in various orbits, The ovbit nearest to the nucleus can contain a maximum of 2 electrons, the next one ean have up t0 8 electrons, and so on for other orbits The nucleus of an atom contains two types of particles called protons and neutrons, (hydrogen atom is the only one which does not have a neutron) Protons carry a positive electrical,charge equal in magnitude to the charge of sec lzon but have a mass nearly 2000 times that of an electron The neutrons he sn “leetrical charge and are only very slightly heavier then the protons in he normal state, an atom contains an equal number of protons and electrons to make the atom electrically neutral. Some of the basic properties of the electron, the proton and the neutron aresummarized below Charge of a proton = +1.6x 10 Coulomb (equal to the electron charge) Mass of a proton = 1.673 x 107g (=1830 x electron mass) Charge of an electron = 16 x 10 Coulomb Mass ofanelectron | = 91x 107 ‘eg Charge of aneutron | = 0 Mass of a neutron | = 1.675 x 10%g Because of the presence of the positively charged protons and neutral irons, the nucleus is always a positively charged body. A model of the atom ie illustrated in fig. 21 e : The model of the atom 2.3. The Nucleus The nucleus is the heaviest part of an atom as it contains all the massive Particles, protons and neutrons. The nucleus also occupies a very small volume of the ‘tom so that most of the space between the nucleus and the electrons is empty2.4. Basic Properties of the Nucleus: a. Constituen Protons and Neutrons b. Charge: Positive. Q = (No. of Protons) x 1.6 x 10” Coulomb . Radiu Of the order of 10° em d. Mass: Equal to (Mass of a proton x No. of protons) + (Mass of @ neutron x No, of neutrons) & Symbol: 2 or X-A, where Xi the name ofthe chemical clement, A= No. of protons + neutrons and 2= No. of protons lp @ (e) Hyarogen to} Helion Fig. 2.2: The atomic nucleus of hydrogen and helium ample How many electrons, protons and neutrons are there in a neutral xFe atom? What is the charge of the nucleus of the atom? Solution: From the usual notation of a nucleus: 2X, No. of protons, Z = 26 Since the atom containing the nucleus is electrically neutral, No. of electrons = No, of protons = 26 No. of neutrons = A -Z= 56-26 =30 Charge of the nucleus = No. of protons x charge of one proton = 26x 16x10" . = 4.16 x 10"* CoulombIv Used Basic Terminoto 2.5. Some Freques gies and their Definition: Nucleons: Atomic Number (Z): Neutron Number (N): Mass. Number (A): Nuclide: Isotopes: Isobars: Stable Isotope: Unstable or Radioactive Isotope: 'Protons or Neutrons Number of protons in the nucleus. Every chemical element has a different atomic number Number of neutrons in the nucleus A specific nucleus with a given Z and Neg, °C is a nuclide of carbon having a mass number A=12 and proton number 2=6 Nuclides with same Z but different N, belonging to the same chemical element, €.2, "C,"¥C,'¥C are isotopes of carbon. Isotopes of a given element are chemically identical, since chemical properties are determined only by the atomic number, Z of the element, which is same for all isotopes Helium-3 Helium Fig. 2.3: The three isotopes of helium Nuclides having same N but different Z, Nuclides having same A but different Z and N, eg, 2Ca, 2K, War Tsotopes which do not undergo any transformation and therefore emit no muclear radiation Tsotopes which undergo transformation producing nuclear radiation, Sometimes labeled with an asterisk, e.g, uct 24Abundance: Atomic Mas Unit (u} Atomic Mass: 'sotopes of a chemical element exist in different amounts called abundance. For example, abundances of "0 is 99.8%, "O is 0.037% and ‘TO is 0.204% In nuclear physics, masses of atoms are usually given in a unit called atomic mass unit (u) based on what is known as 2 scale. On this scale, mass of a neutral "C atom is taken arbitrarily as 12 u for Convenience, although its actual mass is 1.992 x 10». Therefore Tu= 1.99210? 9/12 =1.66x 10 Mass of @ neutral atom in units of u calculated from Mass of any atom = 12x (actual mass of the atom/actual mass of "C atom) 1 Is Table of atomic masses of elements calculated according to.eq. 1 is given in Appendix 1 Examples of atomic masses are given below: Element Atomic Mass (u! Proton 1.007825 Neutron 1.008655, jHe 4.002603 i Gc 12,000000 ac 13,003354 QU 238.048608 Ifan clement has several isotopes, the atomic mass of the clement is the average atomic mass of the mixture, average being taken according to abundances of the isotopes. Thus if Pi is the isotopic abundance in percent of the i th isotope of atomic mass M;, then the atomic mass of the element is M=SPMM00 ou. 2Molecular Mass Mole Avogadro’s Number (Ny): No. of Atoms or Molecules per gram: No. of Atoms or Molecules per em* Sum of the atomic masses of the atoms in the molecule Gram equivalent of atomic mass or molecular mass is called a Mole. For example, atomic mass of "C is 12 uw One mote of 8C = 12 g. Similarly, one mole of Oo molecule = (2x15.9994) = 31.9987 g, one mole of H,O molecule = 2x 1.007825 + 15,9994 = 18.01505 g Itis the number of atoms or molecules in one mole of any substance and is a constant ( = 6,022x10™, irrespective of the type of the substance, Reason: Suppose a substance hhas atomic mass = 24 u. This means individual atoms of this substance are twice as heavy as "C atoms, There must therefore be same number of atoms in 24 g of this substance as in 12 g of BC. Given by N= NAIM ocaccsccccccccssssssseeseeed where Nx = Avogadro's Number, M = 1 Mole of the substance Given by DNS NAIM: PbO cence where p = Physical Density (g/cm? ) Na = Avogadro's Number M=1 Mole of the substance Frequently it is required to compute the number of atoms of a particular isotope per unit volume of a substance. This is given by N=PipNa/100M...... 5 where Pi = Abundance of the i th isotope in atoms percent IFisotopic abundance is given in wt. percent, thenUnit of Energy in Nuclear Physics: ‘The energy unit most commonly used in nuclear physics is called; the Electron-Volt, denoted by eV. It is the Kinetic energy gained by an electron when accelerated through an electric potential difference of 1 volt TeV =1.6x10 Joule 1 keV (kilo-clectron volt) = 10? ev MeV (mega-electron volt) = 10° eV Example. Calculate the mass of a hydrogen molecule from the isotopie data: Isotope —_Abundance (2) At, Mass (u : ‘iH 99.985 1.007825 *H 0.015 2.01410 Solution Using eq. 2, Mass of Hy molecule = 2 x mass of @ hydrogen atom = 2x [Atomic mass of 'H x 0.99985+ Atomic mass of 7H x 0.0001 5] x [1.007825x 0.99985 + 2.01410x 0.00015} 015952 u Example 3: How many molecules of water are there in 1g of water? How many hydrogen atoms? How many deuterium atoms? Take average atomic mass of oxygen = 15,99940 u Solutio, Mass of | mole of water = 2 x mass of hydrogen atom + 1 x mass of oxygen atom x 1.007976 + 15.99940 = 18.015352 u = 18.015352 g No. of molecutes in 1 g of water = 6.022 x 10” / 18.015352 = 3.5.x 10 No. of hydrogen atoms in 1 g of water = 3.5 x 107 x 2=7.0x 10 No. of deuterium atoms in 1 g of water = 7.0 x 10 x Abundance of H. 0.x 107 x 0,00015=1.1 x 10” Example The density of a NaCl crystal is 2.17 g/m? . Compute the atom densities of Na and Cl. 27ran Sol Fromeq. 4, N=pNa/M_ no/em? where p = Physical Density (g/cm? ), Ny = Avogadro's Number, M = Mole For NaCl, M = 22.990 + 35.453 = 58,43 9 N= 2.17 x 6.022x10" / 58.443 = 2.2 x 10% ‘molecules/em? Since there is 1 atom each of Na and Clin each molecule of NaCl, it follows that the atoms/cm’ of either Na or Cl is the same as molecules/em? of NaCl 2.6. Binding Energy of the Nucleus A nucleus denoted by $ is formed by bringing together Z protons and N = A-Z neutrons but its mass M(A,Z) is less than the sum of the masses of its constituents ( protons and neutrons ) in the free state. This decrease in mass, AM, called the " mass defect" is converted into energy AE by Einstein's relation— AMc? where c is the speed of light This energy is released when a micteus is formed from its constituents, Once the nucleus has been formed. if we want to break the nucleus into its constituents. we have to supply energy equivalent to the energy released. This energy is called the "binding energy" or BE ( )) and is given by BE =(Z.m,+N.m-M(AZ)] 2... 8 where my = mass of a proton, m, = mass of a neutron and M (A.Z) is the mass of the nucleus, The binding energy of a nucleus per nucleon = BE of the nucleus / A Example Calculate the binding energy of He-4 nucleus per nucleon. Given: Atomic mass of He-4 = 40026033 u Atomic mass of H-1 = 1.0078250u Mass of neutron (n) = 1.0086650u 2-8Solution: Mass of constituents = 2 x mass of H-1 + 2x mass of n » 1.0078250 + 2 x 1.0086650 4.032980 u Mass Defect= Mass of constituents - Atomic mass of He-4 4.032980 - 4,0026033 = 0,0303767 u = 0.0303767 x 1.66 x 107"kg=5.0x 10 kg Mass defect x ¢? = 5.0xX10” x (3.0x 10°F 5 x 109 5 8.2 MeV. Binding energy Binding energy of He-4 nucleus per nucleon = 28.30/ 4 = 7.07 MeV / nucleon lear Fission Energy When a nucleus splits into two or more fragments, a large amount of energy is released. This fission process is the basis of controlled nuclear power produced by a Feactor or uncontrolled destructive power of an atom bomb. The principle of energy release comes from the idea of nuclear binding energy described above, A heavy nucleus after absorbing a neutron breaks up into two lighter muclei and produces 2-3 more neutrons. The resulting mass of the fission fragments plus additional neutrons is less than the original nucleus and the initial neutron. Nucleus X + neutron ——} fission Nucleus ¥° + Nucleus Z’ + neutrons The fission products Y" and Z” are highly radioactive and are the sources of radiation in a fission reactor. Masses of (Y + Z + neutrons) < Masses of X + neutron AM = Masses of [X + the neutron] - Masses of [Y + Z + neutrons] This difference in masses appears, as energy according to Einstein’s formula: E= AMC in a nuclear power reactor, a U-235 nucleus captures a thermal neutron and fissions into two lighter nuclei with release of energy and 2 more neutrons. These secondary neutrons can cause further fissions in other U-235 nuclei, thereby cresting a chain reaction. The chain reaction can be controlled in a nuclear reactor to produced energy at a sustained level. In a bomb however, no control mechanism is put in place 29for obvious reasons Example 6: A U-235 nucleus fissions according to the following scheme: U-235 +2 ———4 La-139 + Mo-95 + 2n Caloulate the energy released Solution: Mass Defect, AM = Mass of (U-235+n) - Mass of (La-139 + Mo-95 +2n) =0.221u 0.221 x 1.66 x 107” =3.53 x 107 ke 3.53 x 1077 x (3 x 108)*=3.2x 10 200 Mev It can be shown that if all the nuclei in 1 g of U-235 undergo fission, the amount of energy released will be about 1 Megawatt-Day (MWD). 2.8. Nuclear Fusion Energy Another way a vast amount of nuclear energy can be produced is by the fusion process. This is opposite of nuclear fission process. Here 2 light nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus plus @ nucleon. Again, the masses of the final nucleus and the product particle is smaller than the masses of the intial lighter nuctei. Nucleus X + Nucleus Y———} fusion ——} Nucleus Z + a nucleon Masses of {Z + nucleon] < Masses of [X + ¥] AM = Mass of [X + Y]~[Mass of Z + the micleon} This difference in masses appears as energy according to Einstein’s formula E=AMc™ ‘The energy release per fusion reaction is about 3-25 MeV, much smaller than fission energy of 200 MeV per U-235 mucteus. However, the flsion process is much cleaner than the fission process from radioactive contamination point of view The great advantage of the fusion process has over the fission process is the cheap and commonly available raw materials used in the former. Examples of fusion reactions are 2-10H-2 + H-2—— He3 +n H-2 + H2——PH3 + p H2 + H3—_» Hea +n H-2 + He-3——}He-4 + p Nuclear fusion is the process by which the sun and other stars produce Energy So far it has not been possible to duplicate the process in the laboratory for controlled production of energy, although uncontrolled release of energy has been achieved in ther-onuclear bombs. The main difficulty of controlled production of fusion energy is the extremely high temperatures (about a million °K) required for the Creation of plasma of the nuclei to fuse and the containment of such high temperatures Etforts are going on in several labs with limited success so far. Example 7: Calculate the energy released in the H-2 + H-2 fusion reaction resulting in the formation of H-3 and a proton. Solution: Mass Defect = [2 x mass of H-2] ~ [miss of H-3 + mass of proton} = [2x 2.014102] - [3.016050 + 1.007825] 0.004329 u = 0.004329 x 1.66x 107 kg = 7.1861 x 10 kg Energy released = Mass Defect x c? 7.1861 x 10°? x (3 x 10°? Joules 6.467x 10 / 16x10" Mev 4.0 MeV 6.467 x 107? Joules The Chart of the Nuclides About 350 nuclides are found in nature inchiding about 25 which are radioactive with sufficiently long half lives to survive from the time of earth's formation to present. In addition, over 1000 artificially produced nuclides have discovered and identified. Many useful properties of these nuclides, both naturally occurring and artificially produced, have been compiled in the form of & chart for quick and convenient reference. In this chart, each nuclide occupies a square and relevant information regarding the nuclide is printed inside the Square. Stable, naturally radioaetive and artificial nuclides are differentiated by the use of different colors or shading of the squares. In each case the symbol and mass number are shown as well as the natural ebundance of the isotope, if it 's stable. For radioactive isotopes, the half life, the mode of decay, and the 21be Sus aoeit CA ay roel aero thy ci ant yen vaenerey of the emitted radiation are shown, All the nuclides on the same horizontal line have the same atomic number Z, while all nuclides with same ‘ass number lie on a 45? diagonal line, running, from upper left to lower right The nuclide chart can also be used to obtain rapid information on the radioactive decay and nuclear reaction products, The change of position of 2 nuclide in the chart due to radioactive decay or nuclear reaction is also shown The nuclide chart is therefore a valuable source of information on the important properties of both the stable and the unstable nuclides Ap “ a — eer tel het : Le | eth Fig, 2.4: Chart of the NuctidesPROBLEMS |. Using the dita in table below, calculate the average atomic mass of the naturally occurring element oxygen. Isotope Abundance (% At Mass (u) “0 99.759% 15.9949 "0 0.037% 16,9991 ¥o 0.204% 17.9992 w * Calculace the molecular masses of HzO from result of Problem 1 and the following the isotopic data: Isotope Abundance (2%) AL Mass (u) 'n 99.985 1.007825 *H 0.015 2.01410 Jes How many atoms are there in 10 g of "C2 + For water of normal density, compute: (a) the number of H,O molecules per cm’, (b) the number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms per cm’, (©) the number of deuterium atoms per cm’. He Protons, neutrons and electrons are there in the neutral “*U atom? © Calculate the mass defect and the average binding energy per nucleon for the following nuclei: a)?H b) ‘He "Cc * The possible fission products of Pu-239 fission by thermal neutrons are: a) Ce-141, Mo-96 and 3 neutrons b) Pd-108, Xe-129 and 3 neutrons c) Gd-155, Br-81 and 4 neutrons Show that in each case the energy release is approximately 200 MeV. S. Show that in the H-2 + H-3 fusion reaction resulting in the formation of He-4 and a neutron. the energy release is 17.6 MeV.3. RADIOACTIVITY 3.1. Nuclear Stability Radioactivity is a phenomenon in which an unstable nucleus undergoes transformation called “decay” producing nuclear radiations The stability of a nucleus Gcpends on the balance between the electrostatic repulsion force (Ceulont force) between positively charged protons, and the attractive nuclear force between the sucleons irrespective of their charyes, ‘Although the repulsive Coulomb forces are much weaker than the attractive nuclear forces, they act over much longer distances than the short-ranged nuclear forces. For this reason, each proton in the nucleus repels every other proton, not just mecha Or The short-ranged nuclear forces cause attraction only between adjacent nucleons, In heavy nuclei where there are a large number of protons, the Covlant repulsion has the effect of making these nuclei unstable. The stable heavy nuclei {Perelore tend to be made up of mote neutrons than protons. This fact can be seen fis, 3.1 which shows a plot of néutron number versus proton number for able ‘Sotopes known as the Segre Chart. A curve drawn through the stable nucle! shows that this Tine of stability departs from the N/Z =1 for low Z toward the direction of higher N. reaching a value of N/Z = 1.6 for heavier stable nuclei, Thus, N/Z ratio ‘must lie within certain limits if nucleus is to remain stable. Nuclei lying above (i.e. having excess neutrons) or below (having excess Protons) the line of stability in the N-Z plot are unstable and tend to move toward a stable Form by emitting radiation. This process is called the Radioactive Decay. ‘The mode of decay and type of radiation emitted depend on the particular nuclide. ‘These Processes will be discussed in detail in the lecture on Decay of the Radioactive Nuclides, Here some of the basic concepts ofthe radioactive decay phenomenon will be introduced 2. The Radioactive Decay Law Racioactive decay is an entitely random process and does not depend on the Physical or chemical state of the radioactive nuclide or extemal conditions such eg temperature, pressure, etc. One cannot tell exactly when a radioactive nucleus will decay, It is therefore necessary to describe radioactivity only in terms of the probability of decay ofa radioactive nucleusa r= (with (pure oF emitters (or electron capture) 2 letton capture) \, \ Fig. 3.1: The N-Z Segre plot of Proton number, Z all known nuclei, stable and unstable. A curve through the stable nuclei ( l)represents the line of stability. ia Each radioactive isotope has its own unique way of decay. In general, all radioactive nuclides obey the following exponential decay law: NQ)=Np e#, where No = initial number of radioactive nuclides N() = number of radioactive nuclides present at time t, and 2. is called the Decay Constant, defined as the Probability of decay of a nucleus per sec. is a characteristic property ofa given radioactive ractide and different for different nuclides. A plot of N(t) as a function of t according tothe eq, 1is shown in fig. 3.2, No N € Fig, 3.2: Decay of a radioactive nuclide as a function of time3.3. Some important terminologies and their dejinitions ACTIVITY(A) Activity is one of the most important terms in radioactivity. It gives 4 measure of the amount of radiation that a given radioactive materia! produces. It is defined as the number of radioactive nuclei disimegrating (decaying) per second The activity A(t) of a radioisotope at any time t is proportional to N(t), the number of radioactive nuclei present at time t, ie, AM« NW) A@ = ANQ where 2 is the decay constant. Following eq. 1, the activity can be expressed as A(t)=ANoe™ = Ape*# aan The unit of activity is called Becquerel (Bq. in honor of the French physicist Henri Becquerel who discovered r: .icactivity in 1896 1 Bq ~ | disintegration (or de sy) per see . 4 The old unit of activity, called the Curie (Cit is stil in use. It is equal t6 the activity of 1 g of Ra-226 radioisovo: », and was named after Madame Curie who carried out pioneering -vork with radioactivity after Becquerel’s discovery. 1Ci =3.7x 10" Bq sssscnanneeeenseed SPECIFIC ACTIVITY: Defined as the activity per gram of radioactive nuclide. HALF LIFE (ty2): Another very important characteristic of radioactive material ig its half life. It is defined as the time interval in which the number of radioactive nuclei decreases by half. 7Putting N(t) = No/2 for t= 1a ineg. 1, Nol2 =Noe™ 4a ein =2 Taking In of both sides, Ata = 0.0693 tia= 0.693 6 The half lives of many radioactive nuclides are listed in the Appendix for the lecture on Atomic Structure. The percentage of nuclei remaining radioactive as a function of half life is shown in Table 1 Table 1: The percentage of nuclei remaining radioactive as a function of half lie. Gale Half Lives Percentage of initial number of nuclei remaining radioactive ee 1 50 2 25 3 12.5 4 6.25 5 3.125 6 1.56 7 0.78 8 0.39 9 0.195 10 0.0975, It can be seen from the data in Table 1 that after'n' half lives, N(t) = (1/2) No or A(t)=(1/2)" Ao sosretseelnernseeteceer sete BFrom eq. 6, ba VA which means @ large tra corresponds to a small 1 and hence from ©4, 2,10 small activity, and vice versa, For example, activity of a certain amount of U-238 (tya = 4.5x10° years) is much smaller than that of the same amount of Pb-214 (ty2=26.8 min) MEAN LIFE (t): Because of the statistical nature of decay, individual nuclei in a radioactive nuclide may have lifetimes between zero and infinity Therefore it is not possible to assign a life time to a radioactive nuclide, In addition to the concept of half life already discussed, another usefill quamity called Mean Life, + can be defined as the average life time of a radioactive nuclide. It can be shown thet FAVA = 2/0093 = TAI oe [ Example 1 (i) Caleulate no. of atoms per gram of Ra-226 radioisotope (il) Find the activity of 1 g of Ra-226 radioisotope (tia = 1622 years) Sol (®) No. of atoms per gram of Ra-226 = 6.022 x 10° /226 = 2.66 x 10%" (JA = AN ee VERRS pes 5 a1 / 7 fo Ne 20x10 1b22 »% 365 %24 xboxbo and 4 ( 0.693/ tia); . I tia 1622 y x 3,1536x10" secly A = (0693/1622 x 3.1536x10") x (2.66 x 107!) = 39 x 10" Bq. (This value was previously taken as a unit of activity called Curie), Example 2: Calculate the specific activity of MC (ty = 5730 years)olution: Activity A=NA. Specific Activity = A/g = (N/g) 2 = 0.693 /tin = 0.693 / 5730 x 365 x 24 x 3600=3.8x 1051 ar ayioy g3 Nia = No. of atoms /g =Nq/ Mole = 6.022 x 10 /14=4.3 x 107 3 pro x4 — 1 = |b HD Be Specific Activity = 1.6 x 10" Bq =) bt , Example 3: If the present activity of sample of Ag-102 is 1000 Bg, what will be its activity after 3 half lives? A(O=(1/2)" Ao = (1/2) x 1000 = 125 Bq of a radioisotope decays to 1/10 of its original value in 42 min. What is its half life? Solution: Fromeq.3, A(t)=Aoe** Here (Ag/A)=10 and t= 42 min at Ay & 1 9.055 2x42 = In(10) = 23 I>” = 0.055 . oi ‘ ere Fromeq.6, tia = 0693/2 = 12.64 min. - by”‘xperumental Measurement of Half Life (i) Short Hall Life (11.2 = a few seconds to a few years) One usually counts the decay radiations at regular intervals of time and plots the count rate vs time on a linear graph paper to obtain an exponential curve similar to fiz, 3.2(a). From this curve ty can be read directly, as shown in figure 1.2. It is also possible to plot count rate vs time on a semi-log paper (count rate on log scale on y- axis and time on the linear x-axis) which will result in a straight line graph, as shown in fig, 3.2(b) Bay _ 10x ton | 09 10°| YAN nber, A 108 Relative Relative act 10] Lt Py 108 L 042 2G2 hp Aha Styx Oy 0h 2a Sha Ma Sn Oia Gin nits of ty) —e 44m units of £4,,) —> f@ ) : Experimental determination of short half life. (a) Linear Plot {b) Semi- logarithmic PlotVery long Half Li * (tia Of the order of years or more) tia = 0693/2 Parent Half Life Thorium Series (also called 4n series*) 1.4x10" years Neptunium Series (also called 4n+1 series*) 2.2x10° years Uranium Series (also called 4n+2 series*) 4.5x10? years Actinium Series (also called 4n#3 seriest) 7.2x10° years "These fames are due to the fact that each member of these series has mass number A fiven by dn, Ant, 4n+2 and 4n+3_ respectively, where "nis ag integer. Because of is relatively short halflife compared to the age of the earth 10 billion years), the flembers of the Neptunium Series no longer exists in nanne However, they have been produced in the laboratory from other heavy nucles All the four series decay by a succession of alpha and beta Particles ultimately ending in a stable isotope of an element. Three of then (Th-232, U-235 and U-238) ni in stable isotopes of Pb and the fourth, Neptunium ina sable isotope of Bi. The decay chains of the four series are shown in fig, 3.3,Uranium Serres Anta? ‘Thociuen Series An4n ie is fore nop Ral 1s Bac Rac 1s RaG (Pb 200) tii: Hg Pb Po Em ha ih TAF Actinium Series Amtnt3 Neutron manber N & NF We Prowou mumber Z rhe decay chains of the four radioactive series3.6. Radioactive Equilibrium the decay process, there are Nj parent atoms with decay constant and Ne, daughter atoms with decay constant 3. Then Rate of increase of daughter atom = Rate of production from the parent - Rate of decay of the daughter It can be shown that the ratio of the activit any time is given by ies of the daughter and the parent at AIA, = 22N2/ A Ni= [2 /(ha~ y)) (12-60%. ty a) Special Cases: (i Secular Equilibrium i When 22 >> ia, ie, the half life of the parent is much larger than that of the daughter, as in the ease of uranium or thorium parent, the ratio in eq, 10 becomes Ag/AL=AaNa/ANi= 1ee™® seed In this case, after a sufficiently long time the series has been decaying (t > > tia of daughter), it can be shown that em =0 Then from eq. 10 Ar=Ar esse 12 : or AM =aaN secseeetccencecteennee ‘e., the activities of the patent and the daughter are equal, Under these conditions, the radioactive series is said to be in secular equilibrium as depicted in fig 3.4 An example is the natural radioactive series uranium in which members are in secular equilibrium with uranium which has a long half life.Activity Time 3.4: Parent-daughter activities at secular equilibrium (ii) Transient Equilibrium | When the condition 23 > > iy does not exist but 22 is just bigger than 2, (i.e. the half life of the parent is just longer than the daughter but not too long), another situation, called transient equilibrium prevails. In this case, after a sufficiently long time, the daughter eventually decays with the same half life as the parent and transient equilibrium is established. The ratio of the measured activities at such equilibrium can be shown to be An /AL=RaNa/ RYN, = (a= a) Ba cooces one 4 and the daughter activity is greater than that of the parent by a constant factor Ar /Qa- di) AAS ig. 3.5 shows the behavior of the two activities at transient equilibrium, Activity Time Wig, 3.5: Parent-daughter activities at transient equilibrium we‘An example of transient equilibrium is the following decay: 25 - 28 ae ns sh2 (2 = 6.79) BY Ac (tin = 6h) p Th(tia=1.9y) a Ra “Ac (tin = 6 h) promptly decays to 7p which is then in transient equilibrium with “Ra. Activity ratio of "Th to’*Ra can be shown to be a constant equal to 1.4 37. Artificial Radioactivity ' being put to increasingly greater use in a wide ture, biology, industry, medicine etc, While there Iie radioactive nuclides found in nature, their usefulness in these fields are very limited due to the following drawbacks: |. Itis difficult to find a right typ. energy of the emitted radiation {The activities of natural radioisotopes are generally very low * Ofcourse, they are not readily available everywhere © of natural radioisotopes in terms of half life and >-71. Production of Artificial Radioisotopes Radioisotopes are p roduced in the laboratory ether in a nuclear reactor or by a nuclear particle accelerator. The most common method of producing a radioisotope in the laboratory is by neutron ebsorption reaction in a stable isotope. For example, 3Co + n> 8Co" no” > Co 4 7 ‘The activity ofthe produced radioisotope at any time after production is given by.4 A(=NA=oNon(1-e%,) o% 16 where @ is called the cross section (ie., probability) for neutron absorption by the inital nuclide, No_is the incident neutron flux, n isthe no. of nucle of she initial nuclide, 2 is the decay constant of the radioisotope Produced, and ty is the time of irradiation of the initial nuclide with neutrons,PROBLEMS Whats the activity of | g of Pb-214 (60 = 26.8 min) and 1g of U-238 (= 45x10? ¥)? Express your answers in Becquerel and Curie 2 How much U-238 is needed to have the activity equal to that of I g of Pb-2147 > Radium-226 has a half life of 1620 years. Calculate (a) half life (b) mean life and (c) activity tor | g of Radium-226, 4. Cs-137 has ty2 = 9.7 days. (a) How long will it take a sample of this isotope to decay to 1% of its original activity ? (b) What is the mean life of the 8-137 atoms? . * 5. A Source of radioactive tritiim (ty x=12.6 y) has an activity of 1 mCi. What is thes mass of tritium in the source ? © | mg of Ra-226 has activity bF 3.7 x10! disintegrations/see. What is its half life ? 7, 228Th has a half life of 190 vears and its parent Ra has @ half life of 6.70 years. ‘lier a transient equilibrium has been established in the decay of Ra into Th calculate the ratio of the activities of the two isotopes 8. A piece of an ancient wooden boat shows an activity due to 14C of 3.8 disintegrations per min per gram of carbon. What is the age of the boat, What is the age of a uranium bearing rock which contains 1.33 x 10 g of Pb-206 per gram ofuranium? | {0 Plot the following data for the decay of ‘4g using 2 Log-Linear graph paper. Activity (Bq) ime (min ) 0 $00 10 20 30 40 39 60 70 (i) Deduce the half-life Tyz of ‘24g from the graph (ii)How long does it take for the activity to fall t0 1/4 its initial value?4 Interactions of Charged Particles with Matter 4.1 Introduction of ‘such interactions can be inferred from Empirical observations the detailed biophysical and Diochemical pro:esses are still not understood. Ionization ie {he separation of an atom into an electron and a positively charged ion categories: * Charged particulate radiations i.e. electrons (eg. beta particles), a-pantcles, protons and heavy ions. and " uncharged radiations i.e. electromagnetic radiation (gamma and radiation) and neutrons, Where k= 9x10" N m/c, 41 isthe charge on the incident particle in coulomb; 4 Is the charge on the struck particle in coulomb, and 1 Is the distance between the particles in meters, A he mass ofthe electron is taken as 1, then the masses of the other ‘common heavy charged! particles are the following: Electret mass = 1 Proton mass = 1840 Deuteron mass = 2 (1840) Alphia mass 41340) 1t js however, necessary to separate the charged panics into wo lasses: (i) electrons and positrons, and (0) avy charged particles, ie, particles heavier than elarmene ‘This later group includes alpha Particles. protons, and other light nucle: ‘4a4.2 Definitions 4.2.1 Principal types of interactions: NIONIZATION of atoms occurs when an incident charged particle exerts sufficient farce of attcaction or repulsion on atomic clectrons to completely femove one or more from their atoms Tomzation is characterized by the following, ® onization is possible ont: ifthe kinclcenery impared tothe electron by the incident particle exceeds the binding energy ofthe electron & Rach tonization results in a transfer of kinetic energy from the Sncdent pace ‘hus reducing its velocity © The positively charged atom from which an electron has been reinoved and the Femoved electron are referred to as an ion pair, 4 Tonization is most likely to occur in atoms localized along the track of the ‘acident particle. This is called primary ionization. Secondary ionization gost wee Me initial partite releases atomic electrons with suficient energy to Produce further ionizations and which may lead to a separate track & The ‘Positively charged ion will emit one or more photons as electrons drop down to lower energy levels to replace the removed electron and =nather electron ia acquired, | 2 EXCITATION of atoms occurs ‘when incident charged particles exer enough force on atoms to frase @lomic electrons to higher energy states but not enough force to comptely remove thers from their atom, Excitation is characterized by the following 8 Rach excitation reslts ina wansfer of kinetic eneray from the incident panicle, reducing its velocity b. Excitation is most likely to occur in atoms at some distance from the incident particle's trajectory. This is called secondary excitation, © The excited atoms will emit photons when the electrons rum to the ground state, 3 BREMSSTRAHLUNG (braking radiation) is X Patticles interact with the atomic nucleus (figure following; a Bremsstrahlung is almost exclusively asvciated with beta and high energy electron radiations ©. Emission of bremsstrahlung photons redyces_ the kinetic enerayof the incident Bamicle, reducing its velocity. The interaction als scatrs (changes the trajectory © the imeident particle Even though the particle is slowed dawn as a result of the imternction. the effect 18 referred to as an acceleration since the particle changes disection © Bremsstrahlung photons may have any energy up to the enerey ofthe incident pantele.@ The fraction ‘of energy lost to bremsstrahlung radiation is Proportional to the the incident charged particle and the atomic number ofthe absorbing ‘mater. This can be written in equation form as FaZeE ‘where Fis the fraction of charged particle energy lost to bremsstrahlung. Zs the atomic number of the absorbing material. and E is the cnergy of the incident charged particle, For moderate energy betas (1 MeV) in Pb only a small er cont ofthe energris {3:5_%). However, above 10 MeV. the amount of [Etectron Figure 1: Bremsstrahlung 4.2.2 Methods for measuring energy loss, Slumber of methods are used 19 measure the energ transfer charged Particles to another medium, ‘The principal terms used are as follows 5 ' SPECIFIC IONIZATION of a charged particle is the mean numberof ion Pairs created per path length of the incident particle, °W WALUE is the mean energy expenditure including ionization and excitation per ion pair Produced In air, the W value is usually given as approximately 34 eVioa pair. THe SeING POWER is the mean enerey la er path ego he acs charged article. The stoppig power depends only on the charge andthe reker, B, ( vlc, speed of the particle SR POd + SPeat wit why ret sPee of ight in vacuuny ofthe parle, The levant pperice shite see cpallic onan Et, And eletonic density. Sopping power cab ound by milupying ee Met cp ue Sich gation By the W valu. Also, fequenuly used is ihe MASS STOPPING Povien Sees BES, NEA the stopping power divided by the densy of the mater the cherget particle is hy Cannone eat aatana8® of the mass sopping power sth des not vay eee {rom one matenal to another fora given incident partele eooree iL 8 Partcular site is deposited there, For example, bremsstrahlung Tadiation energy is not usually 25 Mev) | | L Figure 2: Tracks from a moncenergetic electron source Re Ray Figure 3-Tansiition curve for monoenergeticclctrons. The transny octane Not beat of beta particles is significantly different fromm that for a beam of are absent lect because oftheir continuous energy dstntuton, Me ken energy beta particles ite absorbed in quite small thickness of absorber! For most bets spectra the curve is neatly exponential figure 4),Figure 4: Transntission curve for beta particles from W", 4.3.1 Backscatter Beta particles scattered through angles of more than 90 degrees are said to be backscattered Beta particle backscattering increases with increasing atomic number of the absorbing material and with inercasing energy of the beta, The backscatter factor Fy, for a given material is defined as: F, = Detector counts/min with backscatter Detector counts/mim without backseatter By definition the backscatter factor is always greater than or equal to one 4.3.2 Cerenkov Radiation, Beta particles passing through a transparent mediwm faster than the speed of light through tht medium emit visible light known as Cerenkov radiation, While nothing ean travel faster tsan the speed of light in a vacuum, light slows down when it travels throogh a transparent. medium Therefore it is possible for high eneray, light panicles. such 38 betas, to travel faser than eh Typically, betas must have encrgies greater than 200.KeV to emit Cerenkov radiation. While this interaction produces the brilliant ble ight often associated with reacors, the phenomena is only of slight interest since the energy loss due to Cerenkow radiation is normally only about 0.1 % of that doe to ionization 4.3.3 Positron Annihilation ‘When a positzon (positive beta) and an electron interact, their masses are converted to electromagnetic enetgy in a process called annihilation. In the most common of this interaction, the two parties form an atom known as positronium which bas a mean life of 10" see. The two masees then disappear, and two_0.511 Me photons are emitted in opposite directions. Other Hess likely fornis of annthilation can al80 occur in which three or more photons are emitted but these are relativ ely rare. 4.4 Heavy Charged Particles Heavy charged particles, such as the alpha particle, interact with matter primarily through coulomy forces between their positive charge and the negative charge of the orbital clectrons within the sorter atoms, Although interictions of the particle with nuclei also are possible, suck encounters occur only rarely except for panicles with a large positive charge and a low velocityWhen we eh “4 anicle enters the mediim, like the electrons it immediately imeracts Simultaneously. with many electrons. Depending on the proximity of any single encounter the electron the expence of ice impulse 10 cause excitation or cause iontrance The transfer of energy is at the expense of the kinetic energy of the i $0 the net effect is thatthe particle velocity i Continuously decreasing to zero rent hateed particles wll not deviate far fom thi orginal Glirection of travel following electron approniataly cP 3 lie en: end of their wacks ‘The path length an ‘ediuin is thecefore, ‘ipproximately equal tothe range {BE Product ofthe interactions within the medium ae either cited atoms orion pairs. The ion pairs have the natural tendency to recombine. 4.5 Alpha Particle interactions 2 ON Parle isthe nucleus of the Helium atom i has the charge of? nits, positive, and the mass of 4 tt The nergy range for the natural oecurrin alp 11.65 Me, most alphas are Particles aie ionization and 5 Particles. For example, in air, rath hy tt, 20-000 to 60,000 ion parfem with the highest values absop ees Fre 5), ah Plotting sreciic ionization versus range foralphas soon cn sa hat he fate of energy los per unit distance traveled bythe alpha sees ereas as i slows down The satistical nature of alpha pai interactions ia a medium is Stear fiom figure 5, The spread in the resid energies icles distinguished at the end ofthe ' ' ‘ I track, Parallel beam Figure 5: Specific energy loss along alpha particle rack (Bragg curve for an alpha particle) rhe sane of the alpha particle is very shor. In ai at STP, the ange can be estimated by the formula 0.56 E (MeV) for E<4MeV 124 E MeV) - 2.62 for4 Peta particles wil penetrate about 0.5 cm i sont tissue per MeV of energy — Bets particles up to 70 keV are stopped in the dead laver of normal skin. Rules of thumb|for charged particlesa P oF wi Energy igure 6: Ranges in om of protons alpha panicles, and eleczons in ait at STP 494.6 Relative Hazard 4.6.1 Alpha Particles ince alpha particles have short ranges in dense substances makes the alpka particle much less of a hazard to humans than other external radiations. With the source on the skin surface, an alpha Fanta ceeds approximately 7.5 MeV to gt through the dead layer. For mast alpha emitters then ro living tissue will be damaged when the source is external tothe bo 4.6.2 Beta Particles . prPeniling_ on the particle energy, a beta minus or bela plus source may consti an external hazard Pesause of their great range, beta particles of 70 keV are able o penetrate the dead layer of sag oct case of mast beta emitters, This factor reduces an eiemal beta source to primarily @ skin-exposure Problem. Since most beta particles are easily absorbed by a small amount of metal or plastic, the hazard will be usually exist only near the source. Aa external hazard may result from x rays produced when high energy beta panicle is stopped in an Toa ag Sremsstahlung radiation), The amount of such xray prodsion canbe minimized by ung low Zmaterials, For positron emitters (beta plus), the ansbilaion photon rays require hicks: absorbers to reduce the external hazard Singita 4-105. DECAY OF THE RADIOACTIVE NUCLEUS 5.1. Introduction We have seen in the N-Z plot of the nuclides in the last lecture that nuctides lying on sither side of the line of stability are unstable and decay to form stable nuclide by emitting radiation. The mode of decay and type of radiation emitted depend on the Particular nuctide, In general, the processes by which radioactive mucles cen decay (a) Alpha Decay (b) Beta Decay (©) Electron Capture Decay (4) Gamma Decay (e) Spontaneous Fission Decay An illustration of the above processes is shown in fig. 5.1 below. Bt Spontaneous fission \ & A Negatron decay ed eye Internal Electron conversion Fig. 5.1: Nuclear decay modes Sot5.2. Conservation Laws Radioactive decay obeys a set of conservation laws which require a balance of several parameters on two sides of the decay equation. These are: (i) Conservation of Mass Number (A): The total number of nucleons before and after the decay must be the same (ii) Conservation of Charge (Ze): The sum of the charges on all nuclei and particles before and after the decay must remain the same. Since charges are due to the atomic numbers (2), this law implies that the atomic numbers are conserved. ii) Conservation of Momentum: The total momentum, given by mass x velocity, of all nuclei and particles before and after the decay must be equal (jv) Conservation of Energy: The total energy (including rest mass energy given by mass x ¢?, and kinetic energy given by ¥% x mass x (velocity)? ) of all nuclei and particles before the decay must be equal to that afterthe decay” Example: Ifa nucleus 7; decays to GY + By, then according to the conservation laws, @AI=A2+A3 (i) Z1=22+23 (ii) Momentum of 4X’ = Momentum of ¥ + Momentum of 33 (iv) Energy of 4X = Energy of 3Y + Energy of 5.3. Alpha Decay fear: eae Nuclei which are on the right hand side of the N-Z Stability Curve have too many protons causing instability due to Coulomb repulsion, These nuclei get rid of the excess charge by emitting «. particles, An alpha particle is a collection of 2 protons ‘and 2 neutrons, just like the nucleus of a helium atom, Tt therefore has an electric Gharge of H2e where e is the magnitude of electron charge equal to 1.6 x 10 Coulomb. The mass of a particle is 2.x{ proton mass + neut: ass) or equal to 4.012603 u (atomic mass unit) or 6.6 x '®*7kg. It is the least penetrati: + of all nuclear radiations, easily stopped by a thin sheet of paper. Following the conservation laws for mass number and charge, an alpha decay process can be written as sy 54444 3X OB +, He eg, BU Thta 5-25.3.1. Condition for a-Decay: @ teas, @ + ° Nucleus #1 Nucleus $7 « (Mass Mx,, Vel. Vy: = 0) (Mass My, Vel. Vy) (mass ma, vel. va) The nucteus 71 before decay is at rest so that its kinetic energy (KEx) is zero. After decay, both the product nucleus 4*Y and the a Particle have kinetic snergles KEy and KE, respectively. A quantity called the Decay Energy, denoted by Q, is defined as the sum of kinetic energies of 49% and Following the laws of conservation of momentum and energy, it can be shown that Q = KEy + KE, = [Mx = My = ma]? aa] Since for spontaneous « decay the Q value must be Positive, this gives the condition for « decay as: Mx > My + me that is, the mass of 7” must be greater than the masses of $Y anda together The decay energy is shared by both #4Y and a Since only the heavy Tuclides are more likely to undergo cz decay because of large number of Protons in energy of 7X is carried away by the much lighter a particle, This can be seen from ‘he approximate relation for the kinetic energy of thee partcle: KE, = [(A4)/A]Q oe] where A, the mass number of 3X, is usually very large so that (A-4V/A <1 and hence the a particle carries most of the decay energy. The energies of alpha particles emitted by common radioisotope sources range between 4 ende MeV. « Example 1 ‘Ra decays by a emission. (i) What nucleus is formed ? (ii) What is the decay energy? (ii) What is kinetic energy of the o particle?Fora decay ingeneral, 2X ot Ys} He (5) Here for Ra, A= 22 For Y, A-4= 222 From chart of the nuclides, Y is Radon, Rn 2 Ra 33 Rn; He (ji) The decay energy, Q= [Mx - My - majo Mg - My = Mq= 226.025360 - 222017531 ~4.002603 u = 0.005226 u = 0.005226 x 1.66x 10 kg Q== [0.005226 x 1.66 x 1077] x (3 x 10" P= 7.8 10” Joules = 4.8 MeV (iii) Kinetic energy of a = [(A-4)/ A] Q = [(226-4) /226] x 4.8= 4.7 MeV 5.3.2. Discrete energies «f a particles When the nucleus X decays, it may leave the nucleus ¥ in an excited state from which Y decays by -mitting gamia rays. Thus the energies of o particles will ro eitterent discrete amou! ts depending on which excited state of Y is reached by the decay of X . This is show. in fig. 5.2 for the decay scheme of 7%Th to Ra by emission ™Th » 9kev CSCC 253 keV ———— 1a 217 keV OO Y ” ay 84.5 keV - % OkeV- ™Ra Fig.5.2: Decay of 3° Th>R' Ra ta 4'n the above figure, the energies and (intensities) of the a particles and the gamma radiations are 4: 8.137 MeV (0.039%: 2: 5.173 MeV (0.2%) ay: 5.208 Mev (0.4%) (1 5.338 MeV (28%) 5 : 5.421 MeV (71%) 11 205 keV (0.03%) 72! 169 keV (0.13%) 15: 137 keV (0.16%) 1: 217 keV (0.30%) 15 $4.47 keV (1.6% 8 Beta Decay & nucleus which does not have the necessary number of neutrons and Protons ‘or stability can also decay by emitting p particles B particles are just like electrons jicept that they can have either +ve charge or -ve charge, Those f Particles which “ve charge are called “positrons” or B* , and those with ve charge are banaue’ called “negatrons” or B'. They have mass equal to the electron mass ( 48597 wor 9.1 x 10”? kg) and charge equal to the electron charge (1.6 x 10° nb). They are more penetrating than the a particles because of the, smaller mass (1/1830 of a mass), and can penetrate afew mm of aluminum 5.4.1. B° Decay Frrsmece tl’, 41 8° decay occurs for those nuclei which have too many neutrons, These nuclei ate sKuated on the let hand side of the N-Z Stability Curve. Such a mucleus, 4X , Converts @ neutron into a proton and emits a 8" particle Schematically {X44 B40 eg, SChMNe p+ The particle 7 is called an anti-neutrino and its emitted in the above decay Oo gSomserve energy and momentum. It has zero mass and zero charge. The B particles (both B” and Bt) emitted by a nucleus are not monoenergetc unlike the @ particles Enetgies of the B particles range ftom zero to @ maximum called the Endpoint Energy, as shown fig. 5.3 below:N(K) 1 of beta-part GT O2 03 04 05 08 OF 08 09 10 1112 Kinetic energy of the hete-particles, K (MeV) Fig, 5.2: A typical kinetic energy spectrum of beta particles Since the daughter nucleus ,4Y carries very little energy because of heavy mass, most of the decay energy of X should have been carried away by the Pv particles. But we see from fig 5.3 above, most ofthe P° particles have energies much fess than the maximum or endpoint energy. Hence the need for a neutrino to carry the remaining energy. The neutrino must have zero rest mass, otherwise the maximum KE of the f° particle would not be equal to the decay energy. It must also have zero charge, because the charge is already conserved in the P° equation without the neutrino. Condition for B” Decay If we consider only those ° particles which have maximum KE, we can neglect the anti-neutrino in the B° equation, The decay energy or the Q value ean then be calculated following the momentum and energy conservation laws in the same way as in a decay process: Q= (Mx =My - m)c . 4 5-6Since for spontancous B° decay, the Q value must be positive, 9.5.4 states that P' decay will occur only if the mass of the parent nucleus 2 is greater than that of the daughter nucleus ,Y + the electron. ‘The decay energy is shared among the thee products 5, A", . For this reason, the B° particles have a continuous cnergy spectrum. Most of the B' particles in the spectrum the Peak have energy about 1/3 the endpoint (maximum) energy. The maximura Foy 4 OCs particles emitted by common radioisotope sources anges from above 0.02 to 3.6 MeV | uae 5.4.2, Positron (B") Decay Positron (B" ) decay occurs for those nuclei which have too few neutrons for stability. These nuclei will be situated on the right hand side of the NZ Stability Curve. Such a nucleus 7X converts a proton into a neutron and emits a B+ particle. Schematically, Lp tp" 40 8, SCy>ENi+ B40 A neutrino v is also emitted in the above decay, for the same reason as was explained in the case of f° decay. particles have similar continuous energy distribution as the B" particles, shown in fig. 5.3. Condition for B* Decay Similar to the case of fi decay, the decay energy for the case ofthe maximum energy B* particles is given by Q = (Mx -My - mo? ....., ‘hich means the condition for "is the same as for B decay, ie, for spontaneous B decay, the mass of the parent nucleus 4X must be greater than that ofthe daughter nucleus .4V + the electron 57c % i Example 2: ~ Nv fo Show that a radioactive {Cu isotope satisfies the conditions for Ptdecay. Solution For PB’ decay, nCargdns Bt Bs +t Condition for PTdecay Mass of Cu > Mass of $Z + Mass of electron > 63,929145 + 0,000548597 63.92982531 > 63.92969359 Thus the condition for B° decay is satisfied. Electron Capture (EC) Decay ‘As mentioned before, those nuclei which have too few neutrons undergo decay to become stable. These nuclei gan also decay by another process called the Electron Capture (EC). Through the electron capture process, a radioactive nucleus captures an electron from its atomic shells. Since electrons cannot exist in the nucleus, the captured electron interacts with a proton to produce a neutron, thereby reducing the charge of the final nucleus by 1 unit of electron charge. Usually the electron that is captured by the nucleus is the innermost or K-electron, and so this mode of decay is also called the K-capture process. Since the final nucleus formed in the EC mode of decay is the same as inf" decay, these two modes of decay compete with each other. Schematically, {X tes 4h to eg, $Cuteogni+o ‘The Q value for this process is given by Q= Mx -My # m)e ... 6 The vacancy or “hole” left in the K-shell of an atom when a K-electron is captured by an unstable nucleus is quickly filled when another electron from an outer shell jumps down to fill the hole. In this process, X-rays (characteristic of the daughter nucleus) are emitted. Sometimes, instead of the X-rays, an Auger Electron is emitted. Thus, EC is always accompanied by either X-rays or Auger Electron emission. 5-8d Example BY can decay by either electron capture (EC) or positron emission, Write an equation describing each process. Solution: Positron emission: Wop + Bt + v Electron Capture (EC) Process: $V +e ST 4p 5.6 Gamma Decay When a radioactive nucleus decays by emitting an « of a B particle, its often left in an excited state. Also, in mdst nuclear reactions in which a stable nucleus is bombarded by a particle such as proton or neutron, the product nucleus is left in an excited state, The excited nucleus then decays by emitting, gamma radiation (y), These nuclear gamma radiations are similar in nature to the atomic X-rays, only more energetic. They have no mass or charge, and are most penetrating of all the radioactive decay products. They can easily go through a few cm of lead. Schematically, AXE OEY ty ea, BCs» f° decay—>'3Ba*—>"Ba + 7(0.662MeV') (* indicates that the nucleus is in an excited state) The energy of the gamma radi where Ei = Energy of the higher excited state of the product nucleus Er= Energy of the lower excited state of the product nucleus Gamma rays, like o particles and unlike B particles, have discrete energies. This indicates that the nucleus (like the atom) has discrete energy levels, Schematic diagrams of y emission after a. and B decays are shown in fig. 5.4. 5.95.6.1. Isomerie Transition Usually the nuclear excited states decay immediately after theit formation by cmisting @ prompt gamma ray. Sometimes, however, a nucleus may remain in ao excited state for a measurable period of time before dropping tothe ground state at ite n characteristic rate. A nucleus that remains in such a state before decay is called an isomer sna Ag Fig. 5. 5: Example of a nuclear isomeric transition 5.6.2. Internal Conversion Sometimes, a gamma radiation from a nuclear excited state on its way out Knocks out a K-shell electron of its atom. The conversion electron ejected has a discrete energy (corresponding to the discrete energy levels ofthe nucleus) and is not accompanied by a neutrino, to distinguish the process from f° decay. The intemal conversion process is illustrated in fig, 5.6. The vacancy left in the K-shell may be filled by other orbital electrons causing the emission of X-rays or Auger Electrons, as in the case of Electron Capture Process. (e “Viale Ww AY Xrays Auger Electron Fig. 5.6: The Internal Conversion Process Sell‘The Spontaneous Fission Decay Some heavy nuclei may decay spontaneously by a process called nuclear fission described earlier in the lecture on Atomic Structure. In this process, the nucleus breaks up into 2 large fragments plus some neutrons. Nucleus X—— spontaneous fission —p Nucleus ¥ + Nucleus Z + neutrons The fission products Y and Z are also highly radioactive and decays by ceries of beta particles toward stable nuclei in the intermediate mass range, The condition for spontaneous fission decay is Masses of (Y + Z + neutrons) < Mass of X and Q= [Mass of X - (Massts of Y + Z + neutrons)" . 8 ‘Anvexample of a radioactive nuclide which undergoes spontaneous fission is the artificially produced radioisotope californium-252 (CF252) 5-126. INTERACTION OF PHOTONS WITH MATTER 6.1 Introduction Photons (X and Gamma Rays} are electromagnetic waves. with very short wavelengths. Gamma rays are emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive tom, Most atoms, which decay by § emission, give offymys. Many atoms which decay by « emission also she off rays. Gamma rays are emitted when the nucleus of an atoms has an excess above its lowest energy state after emitting either ana or B. Tn feet these rays fay ‘be emitted from any nucleus in an excited sate. Typical y ray emissiong from radioactive sources range from 10 keV - 7 MeV, but mostly <4 MeV. Gamma rays are_not charged and the interactions will not involve Coulombic forces. Furthermore, gamma ray interactions are infrequent but when they oveur a relatively large amount of energy is transfered. A gamma ray wil raely interact with more ‘han a few atoms before giving up all its energy. Often only one interaction occurs, Zhe major characteristic of the photon that determines the type of interaction is its nergy (E). ‘The characteristic of the matter involved in the interaction that ie moss imporant is its atomic number (Z). ‘The origin of the photon is of no importance in the interaction, Exactly the same Interaction undergone by the following photons: gamma, x-rays, bremstrahlung and onnibilation radiation, Although the origin of each photon is diferent as follows Gamma rays : Radiation emitted from the nucleus of the atom. X-rays + Radiation which is produced outside of the nucleus of the atom (in atom shells) rstrallung: Produced when a beam of energetic electrons is stopped in any dense substance, Bre: Annihilation: Produced as a result of interaction of positron with an electron in the substance. The mass of the particles is charged into twophotons of 0.511 MeV each, Particle radiation, such as a and p, are called directly ionizing radiation because they Produce ions directly along their fespective paths. Photons, xand y rays, are called indirectly ionizing radiation, This) follows since most ofthe ionization occurs afterthe photon has interacted. That i, the electrons released by photon interactions lose their energy by producing ion pairs. she following diagrams indicate in a general way te possible fates ofa gamma ray es it moves through matter’ ‘The energ In thi mma ray moves through the material without interacting je. it Tooses no ‘When charged particles move throueh matter they always loose some energy. y, a. gamma ray can travel forever without ever interacting, s ‘The gamma ray interacts with the matter, changes direction, and leaves with less energy than it had before. ‘The gamma ray disappears, transferring all its energ to the matter with which it interacts. {While gamma rays may interact with matter in large variety of ways, at the enerBiss Gf most interest (0-3 MeV) there are only three interactions of importance: the photoelectric effect, compton scattering, and pair production, 6.2 Photoelectric Effect In the photoelectric effect process (Figure 1), @ photon of energy E, approaches a tightly bound electron of an atom and, is absorbed by the electron. The electron is then ejected from the stom with a kinetic energy B, equal (© the difference between the original photon energy and the electron's binding enerey, BE: E,=E,-BEFor Ihis "process to take place the binding energy of the electron must be less than the photon energy [n approximately 80% of photoelectric interactions, the ejected eletron comes from the K shell. In the remaining 20%, the interaction involves the L shell electron, Only rarely are electrons from other shells involved. Tightly bound electrons are involved because in order to conserve momentum after the interaction, some momentum must Be ansferred to the “recoil” nucleus as well as the electron. ‘If the electron and nucleus are not “attached”, this can not happen, The angle at which the photoelectron leaves the interaction (©) is affected by the Photon energy. At low photon energies, it tends to be ejected at right angles (90 degree) to the original photon trajectory. At high energies, it tends to be ejected in the forward direction, i.e. 0 is small | ‘The photoelectron, being a charged particle, will head off interacting with the ‘material around it via ionization and excitation, This photoelectton quickly gives upall its énergy E, and comes to rest, Following the ejection of the photoelectron, a vacancy is left in the K, or less frequently, L shell. The atom is eft in an excited state, and emits characteristic x-ray or Auger electrons as it retums tothe ground stat. Since the x [ays oF Auger electrons have small energies, they will interact and give up their Stars ear the site of the photoelectric interaction. ‘The energy ofthe xray or Auger electron is equal to the binding energy (BE) of the shell fom which the Photoelectron was ejected. From the photon energy point of view, the greater the energy ofthe photon, the less likely the photoelectric effect. The probability of the photoelectric effect, ¢, (the atomic cross section) varies inversely with E,”. As a rule, the photoelectric effect ic ‘most inaportant for energies below 100 ke, except in very low Z materials 10 the effect of atomic number of material, the higher the atomic number the more likely the photoelectric effect. | Summary of Photoelectric Effect * The photoelectric effect process involves bound electrons. * The protability of ejection is maximum if the photon has just enough energy to knock the electron from its shell. {The photoelectric cross section varies with photon energy approximately as VE) * The coefficient per electron or per gram varies with atomic number approximately as Z) for high Z materials and more nearly as Z* for low Z materials + The coefficient per atom for low'Z materials varies as 2""~ \ E, BE en! o Fig. 1 Attenuation of photon by photoelectric effect. 6.3 Compton Scattering ‘A photon of energy E, approaches a “fiee” (loosely bound) outer electron and transfers a portion of its energy to it. A more accurate description would have the clectron absorb the original photon and emit another at lower energy, Ey. ~The incident photon ray energy and momentum is now shared between the scattered photon ray and electron. The following figure (Figure 2) illustrates the Compton scattering interaction. Fig.2 The Compton effect. The angle that the scattered photon deviates fiom its original trajectory is ®. To summarize the above, the higher the photon ray energy, the more Likely itis to be scattered in the forward direction ie. as B, increases, 8 approaches zero. 4