Nuclear Physics

Types of Nuclear Reactions :

There are two main types of nuclear reactions: fusion and

fission.
 In fusion reactions, two light nuclei are combined to
form a heavier, more stable nucleus.
 In fission reactions, a heavy nucleus is split into two
nuclei with smaller mass numbers.
 Both processes involve the exchange of huge amounts of energy:
about a million times more energy than that associated with
ordinary chemical reactions. In either case, if the new particles
contain more stable nuclei, vast quantities of energy are released.
 Nuclear power plants rely on fission to create vast quantities of
energy. For example, U-235 nuclides can be bombarded with
neutrons, and the result is lots of energy, three neutrons, and two
stable nuclei (Kr-92 and Ba-141).
 Difference between nuclear fission and
fussion

• Fission reaction does not • Fusion occurs in stars

occur naturaly. such as sun.
• It produces many highly • Few radioactive particles
radioactive particles. are produced by fusion
• Energy released is reaction, but requires
million times grater that fussion trigger
that in chemical • Energy released is three
reactions, but lower that to four times greater than
the energy released by the energy released by
nuclear fusion fission
General features of Nuclear reactor
REACTOR
All the reactors consists of following
components

1. Reactor coil
2. Reflector
3. Reactor vessel
4. Radiation shield
5. Structural materials
6. Coolant loops
7. Heat exchangers
1. Reactor core. The
central region of a reactor where the fussion takes place is known
as core. It consists of nuclear fuel. In fast reactors it consists of a coolant, control
rods and structural materials. A moderator is also present in thermal reactors.
 Fuel is in the form of ceramic
Fuel Rods –An ideal fuel should have high thermal conductivity, high melting
point, high resistance to radiation demage and chemically inert. To prevent the
fission fragments into the coolant or the moderators, corrosion , the fuel rods are
covered with protective materials – cladding.
An ideal fuel clad material must be – highly resistant to corrosion, a poor neutron
absorption, cheap, easily available, good mechanical strength, high melting point.
 Zirconum, steel Al, Mg, Ni. Zr is the best one, LWR- steel
 Resarch reactors- Al
 2. Coolant – To remove fission heat from the core, it is necessary
to circulate a fluid – liquid or gas through the reactor. This fluid
is referred to as coolant. It must have high thermal capacity, low
cost, low neutron absorption,, good radiation and thermal
stability and compatibility with fuel and clad.
 Water, liquid sodium, gases like CO2, He
 3. Moderator: to slow down the fast neutrons, to increase their
fission cross section with uranium. It must have low mass
number and should not absorb neutrons.
 Heavy water, D2O, graphite, beryllium, paraffin which are
reach in protons
 When a reaction takes place in uranium rod, most of the fast neutrons enters in moderator. They
collide with the protons of moderator by interchanigng their energies and are slowed down.
 4. Control rods: for maintaining the desired state of fission reactions within a nuclear reactor. To
control the chain reaction from becoming violent, rods of boron or cadmium are inserted in the holes
of reactor core. As a result of which the desired number of neutrons are absorbed and only limited
numbers of neutrons are left to produce fission.
Particle Accelerator :

Accelerators were invented in the 1930s to provide energetic

charged particles to investigate the structure of the atomic
nucleus. Since then, they have been used to investigate many
aspects of particle physics.
A particle accelerator is a machine that accelerates
elementary particles, such as electrons or protons, to very
high energies.
Types of Particle Accelerators :

There are two basic types of particle accelerators:

1. Linear accelerators and
2. Circular accelerators.
Linear accelerators propel (to push or drive forward)
particles along a linear, or straight, beam line.
Circular accelerators propel particles around a circular
track.

Linear accelerators are used for fixed-target experiments,

whereas circular accelerators can be used for both colliding
beam and fixed target experiments.
 How does a particle accelerator work ?

Particle accelerators use electric fields to speed up and increase the

energy of a beam of particles, which are steered and focused by
magnetic fields.
The particle source provides the particles, such as protons or
electrons, that are to be accelerated.
The beam of particles travels inside a vacuum in the metal beam
pipe. The vacuum is crucial to maintaining an air and dust free
environment for the beam of particles to travel unobstructed.
 Electromagnets steer (guide or control) and focus the
beam of particles while it travels through the vacuum
tube.
 Particles can be directed at a fixed target, such as a thin
piece of metal foil, or two beams of particles can be
collided. Particle detectors record and reveal the particles
and radiation that are produced by the collision between a
beam of particles and the target.
Applications :

 An important role in national security, including cargo

inspection and materials characterization.
 In medical applications.
 Manufacturing of computer chips to the cross-linking of
plastic for shrink wrap and beyond.
 Particle accelerators are essential tools of discovery for
particle and nuclear physics and for sciences that use x-
rays and neutrons.
Detectors :

In experimental and applied particle physics, nuclear

physics, a particle detector, also known as a radiation
detector, is a device used to detect, track, and/or identify
ionizing particles, such as those produced by nuclear decay,
cosmic radiation or reactions in a particle accelerator.
Detectors can measure the particle energy and other
attributes such as momentum, spin, charge, in addition to
merely registering the presence of the particle.
How a detector works :

Just as hunters can identify animals from tracks in

mud or snow, physicists identify subatomic
particles from the traces they leave in detectors.
Geiger-Müller tube :

A Geiger counter (Geiger-Muller tube) is a device used for

the detection and measurement of all types of radiation:
alpha, beta and gamma radiation.

The Geiger-Muller tube is usually cylindrical, with a wire

down the center. A high voltage is established across the
cylinder.
 Working :

Basically it consists of a pair of electrodes surrounded by a gas. The

electrodes have a high voltage across them. The high voltage in the tube
produces an electric field inside the tube.
The evacuated tube is filled with 90% Ar at 10 cm and 10% ethyl alchohol. A
Dc volt of 1200 volt is applied bet anode (wire) and the cathode (metal tube).
The ions (and electrons) are attracted to the electrodes and an electric
current is produced. A scalar counts the current pulses and one obtains a
"count" whenever radiation ionizes the gas.
For proper use of the Geiger counter :

One must have the appropriate voltage across the

electrodes.
If the voltage is too low, the electric field in the tube
is too weak to cause a current pulse.
If the voltage is too high, the tube will undergo
continuous discharge, and the tube can be damaged.
 Determine the proper operating voltage :

For low voltages, no counts are

recorded. This is because the electric
field is too weak for even one pulse to
be recorded.
As the voltage is increased, eventually
one obtains a counting rate. The
voltage at which the G-M tube just
begins to count is called the starting
potential.
The counting rate quickly rises as the
voltage is increased.
 After the quick rise, the counting rate levels off. This range
of voltages is termed the "plateau" region.
 Eventually, the voltage becomes too high and we have
continuous discharge.
 The threshold voltage is the voltage where the plateau
region begins. Proper operation is when the voltage is in
the plateau region of the curve.
For best operation, the voltage should be selected
fairly close to the threshold voltage and within the
first 1/4 of the way into the plateau region.
Efficiency of the Geiger-counter :

The efficiency of a detector is given by the ratio of the

(number of particles of radiation detected)/(number of
particles of radiation emitted):

ε=
Advantages :

a)They are relatively inexpensive

b)They are durable and easily portable
c)They can detect all types of radiation
Disadvantages :

a) They cannot differentiate which type of radiation

is being detected.
b) They cannot be used to determine the exact
energy of the detected radiation
c) They have a very low efficiency
Scintillation Detectors :

A scintillator is a material that exhibits scintillation — the

property of luminescence when excited by ionizing radiation.
Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle,
absorb its energy and scintillate, (i.e. re-emit the absorbed
energy in the form of light).
Principle of the scintillation detectors :
A scintillation detector or scintillation counter is obtained when a
scintillator is coupled to an electronic light sensor such as a
photomultiplier tube (PMT), photodiode, or silicon photomultiplier.
PMTs absorb the light emitted by the scintillator and re-emit it in the
form of electrons via the photoelectric effect. The subsequent
multiplication of those electrons (sometimes called photo-electrons)
results in an electrical pulse which can then be analyzed and yield
meaningful information about the particle that originally struck the
scintillator.