Behavior of Fission Fragments Released into Chemical Reactant from U-Pd Alloy Foil

Abstract To gain basic information for the utilization of fission fragments in radiation chemistry, measurements were made on the escape fraction of the fission fragments from a fuel of U-Pd alloy foil, and on the distribution of the fission products in a stainless steel capsule containing the fuel and ethylene together with their γ-activities, for the case of a gaseous chemical reaction system of ethylene. The escape fraction measured on 140Ba _140La was 69%, which is in good agreement with the value of 70% given from theory for a heavier fission fragment. The only fission products detected in the gas phase were 131I, 139I, 133Xe and 135Xe. The sum of the measured γ-activities covering all the fission products was approximately equal to the amount calculated by the empirical formula proposed by Way & Wigner. The behavior of the fission fragments is also discussed. This study suggests that consideration for decontamination associated with this fissiochemical reaction system could well be limited to I, Xe ...