K W D Ledingham et al 2003 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 36 L79 doi:10.1088/0022-3727/36/18/L01
Laser-driven photo-transmutation of 129I—a long-lived nuclear waste product
FREE ARTICLEK W D Ledingham1,6, J Magill2, P McKenna1, J Yang1, J Galy2, R Schenkel2, J Rebizant2, T McCanny1, S Shimizu1, L Robson1, R P Singhal3, M S Wei4, S P D Mangles4, P Nilson4, K Krushelnick4, R J Clarke5 and P A Norreys5
Show affiliationsRAPID COMMUNICATION
Intense laser–plasma interactions produce high brightness beams of gamma rays, neutrons and ions and have the potential to deliver accelerating gradients more than 1000 times higher than conventional accelerator technology, and on a tabletop scale. This paper demonstrates one of the exciting applications of this technology, namely for transmutation studies of long-lived radioactive waste. We report the laser-driven photo-transmutation of long-lived 129I with a half-life of 15.7 million years to 128I with a half-life of 25 min. In addition, an integrated cross-section of 97 ± 40 mbarns for the reaction 129I(γ, n)128I is determined from the measured ratio of the (γ, n) induced 128I and 126I activities. The potential for affordable, easy to shield, tabletop laser technology for nuclear transmutation studies is highlighted.
- PACS
-
28.41.Kw Radioactive wastes, waste disposal
- Subjects
- Dates
-
Issue 18 (21 September 2003)
Received 12 August 2003
Published 3 September 2003
-
Laser-driven photo-transmutation of 129I—a long-lived nuclear waste product
K W D Ledingham et al 2003 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 36 L79
-
Superficial treatment of mammalian cells using plasma needle
E Stoffels et al 2003 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 36 2908
-
Electron swarm and transport coefficients for the binary mixtures of SF6 with Ar and Xe
J de Urquijo et al 2003 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 36 1489
-
1H-14N cross-relaxation in trinitrotoluene - a step toward improved landmine detection
Markus Nolte et al 2002 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 35 939
-
Low frequency noise in Co/Al2O3
δ(Fe)
/Ni80Fe20 magnetic tunnel junctions
R Guerrero et al 2002 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 35 1761
-
Understanding dielectrophoretic trapping of neuronal cells: modelling electric field, electrode-liquid interface and fluid flow
T Heida et al 2002 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 35 1592
-
Thomson scattering on a low-pressure, inductively-coupled gas discharge lamp
M J van de Sande and J J A M van der Mullen 2002 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 35 1381
-
A time-resolved study of ionization, electron attachment and positive-ion drift in methane
J de Urquijo et al 1999 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 32 41
-
An analysis of transverse evolution of electron swarms in gases using moment equations and a propagator method
Hirotake Sugawara and Y Sakai 1999 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 32 1671
-
The spatio-temporal development of electron swarms in gases: moment equation analysis and Hermite polynomial expansion
Hirotake Sugawara et al 1998 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 31 319