Unit 1: Nuclear structure, mass and charge, mass defect, binding energy,

stability rules, magic numbers, nuclear quantum numbers, nuclear parity and
statistics, models of nucleus, shell model, liquid drop model, semi empirical
mass equation, equations of radioactive decay and growth, half-life, average
life determination of half-lives, nuclear reactions, energetics of nuclear
reactions, types of nuclear reactions, spontaneous and induced fission,
neutron capture cross sections- critical size principle and working of nuclear
reactor. Numerical problems relevant to each session.
 Conservation Laws in Nuclear Reactions

Conservation of nucleons. The total number of nucleons before and

after a reaction are the same.
Conservation of charge. The sum of the charges on all the particles
before and after a reaction are the same
Conservation of momentum. The total momentum of the interacting
particles before and after a reaction are the same.
Conservation of energy. Energy, including rest mass energy, is
conserved in nuclear reactions.
 Nuclear Reaction
A nuclear reaction is the process in which two nuclear particles (two
nuclei or a nucleus and a nucleon) interact to produce two or more
nuclear particles or ɣ-rays

A1 A2 A3 A4 X - Radioactive
nucleus
X + a Y + b a – Projectile
Y – Daughter nucleus
N1 N2 N3 N4 B - Ejectile

A1X (a, nb) A4Y BATHE’s Notation

24Mg (d, α) 22Na 63Cu (p, p3n9α) 24Na
 Basic Classification of Nuclear Reactions
There are two extreme scenarios for nuclear reactions
A projectile with high energy (5 MeV) and a target nucleus are within the
range of nuclear forces for the very short time (10-22s) allowing for
an interaction of a single nucleon only. These type of reactions are
called the direct reactions.
 Basic Classification of Nuclear Reactions
A projectile with low energy and a target nucleus are within the range of
nuclear forces for the longer time (10-18 - 10 -16 s) allowing for a large
number of interactions between nucleons. These type of reactions are
called the compound nucleus reactions.
Bethe’s Notation of nuclear reactions
A1 A2 A3 A4
X + a Y + b
N1 N2 N3 N4

‘X’ stands for target nucleus, ‘a’ projectile initiating the reaction
‘Y’ stands for daughter nuclei, ‘b’ ejected particle.
A shorter form of writing a nuclear reaction due to Bethe, is given as
A1X(a, b)A4Y
The number of possible nuclear reactions is enormous, nuclear reactions
can be sorted by types. Most of nuclear reactions are accompanied by gamma
emission. Some examples are

1. Elastic Scattering (σs)

In an elastic scattering reaction between a neutron and a target
nucleus, there is no energy transferred into nuclear excitation.
The elastic scattering conserves both momentum and kinetic
energy of the “system”
208Pb (n, n) 208Pb

197Au (α, α,) 197Au79

79
2. Inelastic Scattering (σi)
A process of scattering is considered inelastic if some of the kinetic energy of
the particle is used up in raising the potential energy of the target to a higher
energy level.
The incoming neutron excites the target nucleus to an excited state which has
a life time of 44.3s and the scattered neutron has considerably less kinetic
energy.
The kinetic energy of the scattered neutron is less than the kinetic energy of
incoming neutron

107Ag (n, n’) 107mAg → 107Ag

7Li + 1H → 7Li * + 1H
3 1 3 1
 Projectile interaction excites the nucleus
Shape elastic scattering and leaves the nucleus. This is direct
No change in energy of the projectile
reaction

Here the entire kinetic energy of the projectile

may be distributed between the nucleons of the
target leading to the formation of a compound
nucleus C. Sometimes the compound nucleus
may emit a particle of the same kind as the
projectile (or even the projectile itself) with the
same energy as the projectile had. If this happens,
we say compound elastic scattering.
3. Capture reactions or Radiative capture
Particle on capture leads to the emission of radiation in the form of gamma
photons γ. This capture reaction is referred to as a radiative capture or (n, γ)
reaction.
23Na (n, γ)24Na; 31P (n, γ)32P; 179Au(n, γ)180Au, 26Mg (p, γ) 27Al
4. Evaporation reaction - When several nucleons, and/or their
combinations as alphas, leave the nucleus, the process is referred to as
evaporation. 133Cs (α, 4n) 133La, 27Al(d, pα) 24Na
5. Knock-out reaction in which a single nucleon or a light cluster is
removed from the projectile by a collision with the target.
6. Transfer reactions in which one or more nucleons are transferred to the
other nucleus. These reactions are further classified to as:
Stripping reaction in which one or more nucleons are transferred to a target
nucleus from passing particle. For example, the neutron stripping in the (d, p)
reaction. 63Cu + d (= n +p) → 64Cu + p (neutron is stripped)
Pick-up reaction in which one or more nucleons are transferred from a target
nucleus to a passing particle. For example, the neutron pick-up in the (p, d)
reaction
4He (α, p) 7Li
1H + 40K19 → 39K19 + 2H1
1
7. Fission or spallation
Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller
parts (lighter nuclei). The fission process often produces free neutrons and photons (in the
form of gamma rays) and releases a large amount of energy.
235U (n, 3 n) fission products
8. Fusion reactions.
Occur when, two or more atomic nuclei collide at a very high speed and join to form
a new type of atomic nucleus. The fusion reaction of deuterium and tritium is
particularly interesting because of its potential of providing energy for the future.
3T (d, n) 4He
9. Nuclear decay (Radioactive decay). Occurs when an unstable atom loses energy
by emitting ionizing radiation.
Alpha radioactivity.
Beta radioactivity.
Gamma radioactivity
Neutron emission.
Neutron emission is a type of radioactive decay of nuclei containing excess
neutrons (especially fission products), in which a neutron is simply ejected from
the nucleus. This type of radiation plays key role in nuclear reactor control,
because these neutrons are delayed neutrons.
Negative beta decay

Positive beta decay

anti-particle of the electron.

10. Spallation reactions.
Occur, when a nucleus is hit by a particle with sufficient energy and large number of nucleons are
thrown out and the product nucleus is very much lighter than parent.
63Cu(p,p3n9α) 24Na (Ep > 70 MeV)
79Br(p,p7n7α) 44Sc (Ep > 180 MeV)

.
11. Rearrangement Reactions

The absorption of a particle accompanied by the emission of one or more particles is called a
rearrangement reaction 197Au (p, d) 196mAu
4He (a, p) 7Li
27Al (a, n) 30P
54Fe (a, d) 58Co
12. Photonuclear reactions.
The reactions induced by high energy ( > 10 MeV) radiation like x-ray and
gamma photon. Here a = ɣ and b = n, p.

9Be (ɣ, n) 8Be*

Spontaneous fission
In this reaction, a nucleus breaks up spontaneously, without any external cause. The nuclei
with atomic masses greater than 232 can undergo spontaneous fission. The table 2.2 shows
the rate of alpha decay and spontaneous fission for comparison.

The rate of spontaneous fission is so low that it cannot contribute to the production of
power. The spontaneous fission of uranium nucleus is accompanied by the emission of
neutrons. The presence of a neutron source from spontaneous fission can be useful in
maintaining a sufficient fission level to preserve a reading on the power-monitoring
instrumentation in the shut-down condition, an important safety feature.
Induced fission
Certain heavy nuclei can be induced to undergo fission as a result of capturing a
neutron. When a neutron is captured, the compound nucleus formed acquires an
internal excitation energy, which is equal to the sum of the binding energy of the
neutron to that nucleus and any kinetic energy the neutron possessed before its
capture.
If this internal excitation energy exceeds a threshold value known as the critical
energy, the nucleus will undergo fission.
The only nuclei of practical importance to us are the U-235 and U-238 isotopes of
uranium and the Pu-239 and Pu-241 isotopes of plutonium. U-235 will undergo
fission with neutrons of any energy. Pu-239 and Pu-241 also undergo fission with
neutrons of any energy. These three nuclides are said to be fissile. U-238, on the
other hand, will only undergo fission with neutrons whose kinetic energy is greater
than about 1.2 MeV; U-238 and other nuclides with a similar threshold energy are
said to be fissionable.
Neutron
capture cross
sections
Nuclear cross section is the area around the nucleus facing the
incident particles, within which the incident particles will lead to an
interaction with the nucleus. Outside the cross-section area, the
incident particle just pass through without interaction.
The interaction depends upon the incident particles. Protons are
mostly deflected as nucleus is positively charged. So, the cross-section
area for proton interaction will be very less.
The area of cross-section for neutron interaction will be greater as
they are neutral. The neutrons interact depending upon their velocity.
If neutron with very high velocity interact there is a good chance for
the neutron to pass through the nucleus. In case of slow moving
neutron there is a great chance for the neutron to interact with the
nucleus.
Cross-section is the term used to measure the probability of the
bombarding particles at a particular energy which would interact with
the target.
The nuclear cross section is given as σ. σ=πR2 The cross-section will
be in the order of 10-28 m2 or 10-24 cm2 which is 1 barn.
 Nuclear cross section
• Nuclear cross section depends on
(1) Particle – protons are generally repelled by nucleus.
Neutron are not repelled, and it can bring
interactions.
(1) Velocity of particle – high velocity – just pass
through. Slow neutrons creates more chance of
interaction.
If we know the cross-section, it is possible to calculate
how many particles are actually interacting with the
nucleons?
To understand how many particles pass through the
nucleus and how many of them interact with the
nucleons we use nuclear cross section.
N – no.of incident particle A
A – Area of the target cm2
dx – thickness of cross-section cm
dN – no of particles interacted with nucleon N-dN
n - no.of nucleons per unit volume A
Total no. of target nucleons = nAdx
σ = nuclear cross section per nucleus
N
The total nuclear cross-section
dx
of all target nucleons = σ n A dx
The probability of interaction per particle is given as

𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 − 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

=
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑏

𝑑𝑁 σ n A dx 𝑑𝑁ൗ
= σ= 𝑁
total no.of interactions occurring over the given cross section region
𝑁 𝐴 𝑛𝑑𝑥
 𝑁 𝑑𝑁 𝑥
‫𝑁׬‬0 𝑁 = -‫=𝑥׬‬0 𝑛𝜎𝑑𝑥
-ve denotes there is a decrease in interacting particle when compared with
incoming particle. N0 – incident particle, N – particle left after reaction.
Thickness dx varies from 0 to x.
𝑁
ln = −𝑛𝜎𝑥
𝑁0
𝑁
= 𝑒 −𝑛𝜎𝑥
𝑁0
N = N0 𝑒 −𝑛𝜎𝑥
The denotes that the no.of particles interacting in the given cross-section of
nucleus decreases exponentially.
If n – the no.of nucleons increases, then the N ( no.of particles coming out of
cross-section) decreases.
If 𝜎 – the cross-section area increases, then the N ( no.of particles coming out
of cross-section) decreases.
 Types of Neutron cross section
Elastic scattering (n,n): σs
Inelastic scattering (n,n'): σi
Neutron Absorption Cross-section: σa
Neutron Capture Cross-section: σγ
Nuclear fission cross-section: σf

σt = σs + σi + σa+σγ + σf
Radioactive decay
• Radioactive elements undergo decay
The unstable nuclei may require a millionth of a second or millions of years to
decay to a more stable one. The rate of decay can be expressed using the
differential form:

in which “N” is the number of radioactive atoms dN is the change in the

number of atoms and dt is the change in time. By introducing a proportionality
constant λ, and indicating a decrease in activity with a negative sign, this
equation becomes equal to the product of λN.

Thus, decay constant may be defined as the proportion of atoms of an isotope decaying per
second. (here dt is kept one second)

The radioactive decay generally follow first order kinetics.

N0 and N are the number of atoms of parent nuclei remaining at time zero and t respectively.
Half-life period
• The half-life or half-life period of a radioactive isotope is the time required for
one-half of the isotope to decay. Or, it may be defined as the time for the
radioactivity of an isotope to be reduced to half of its original value.
Mean half-life
• In a radioactive substance, some atoms decay earlier, and others survive longer. The
statistical average of the lives of all atoms present at any time is called the Average life or
mean lifetime.
1
• It is denoted by the symbol τ and has been shown to be reciprocal of decay constant, τ =
λ
• The average life of a radioactive element is related to its half-life by the expression :
Units of radioactivity
The activity of one gram of 226Ra is considered the unit of radioactivity and is
called the curie (Ci).

The half-life of 226Ra is 1600 years = 1600 X 3.16 X107 seconds

0.693
Decay constant λ = = 1.3706 X10 -11 s-1 = 1.38 x 10-11 s-1
1600 𝑋 3.16𝑋107
6.023 𝑥 1023
The no.of atoms in 1 g of Ra = = 2.665 𝑥1021 atoms
226
The disintegration for 1g of Ra = 1.38 x 10-11 (λ ) X (no. of atoms) 2.7 𝑥1021 =
3.726 X 1010 disintegrations/s
So, one curie = 3.7 X 1010 disintegrations/s
SI unit of radioactivity is becquerel (Bq), which is defined as the activity due to
one disintegration per second. One curie = 3.7 X 1010 Bq or 37 GBq
NUCLEAR REACTOR
 Critical mass
The minimum mass of fissionable material required to sustain the chain
reaction.

Critical Size
When the size of reactor is such that the chain reaction is maintained, we refer
to this as critical size. If the size of reactor is less than critical size, the neutron
leakage is larger, so the reactor will be at subcritical state. If the size of reactor
is more than critical size, the neutron leakage is smaller, so the reactor will be
at supercritical state.
Water is at very
high temperature
and very high
pressure
BOILING WATER REACTOR

Water act as a
moderator
in slowing down
the neutrons.
GAS Cooled reactor
CANDU Reactor

A calandria tube is a long

cylinder made of zirconium that
sits inside the reactor's core
and houses a pressure tube
containing nuclear fuel bundles.
The tube minimizes heat loss by
providing an insulating inert gas
that also provides an effective
leak detection capability.
Fast Breeder Reactor