What do you mean by fertile materials?

A material, which is not itself fissile (fissionable by thermal neutrons), that can be converted into a fissile material by irradiation in a reactor. There are two basic fertile materials: uranium-238 and thorium-232.

What are the three basic fertile materials and their conversion products?

Prominent sources of these nuclides are thorium-232 (232Th), uranium-238 (238U), and plutonium-240 (240Pu), which are known as fertile materials owing to their ability to transform into fissile materials.

What are fissile nuclides and fertile nuclides?

A fertile material, not itself capable of undergoing fission with low-energy neutrons, is one that decays into fissile material after neutron absorption within a reactor. Thorium-232 and uranium-238 are the only two naturally occurring fertile materials. The most prominently utilized fissile nuclides in the nuclear…

Which nuclear reactor consists of both fertile and fissile material?

Which reactor consists of both fertile and fissile material? Explanation: If the reactor produces more fissionable material than it consumes, it is fast breeder reactor. The breeder fuel consists of both fertile and fissile material.

Which moderator is used in fast breeder reactor?

No moderator is used in the breeder reactor since fast neutrons are more efficient in transmuting U-238 to Pu-239. At this concentration of U-235, the cross-section for fission with fast neutrons is sufficient to sustain the chain-reaction.

What is the difference between fissionable and fertile materials?

Fissionable materials are materials that can only be made to fission with high energy (fast) neutrons. Fertile materials are materials that can be transformed (technically this is called transmuted) into fissile materials by the bombardment of neutrons inside a reactor.

Is plutonium 240 fertile?

Since plutonium-238, plutonium-240 and plutonium-242 are fertile, accumulation of these and other nonfissile isotopes is less of a problem than in thermal reactors, which cannot burn them efficiently.

Can you burn nuclear waste in fast reactors?

Fast reactors are capable of destroying the longest-lived nuclear waste, transforming it to waste that decays to harmlessness in centuries rather than hundreds of millennia. Fast reactors typically use liquid metal coolants rather than water.

Why water is not used as coolant in fast breeder?

This makes it difficult to use water as a coolant for a fast reactor because the water tends to slow (moderate) the fast neutrons into thermal neutrons (although concepts for reduced moderation water reactors exist).

Is Pu-240 radioactive?

Plutonium-240 ( 240 , Pu-240) is an isotope of plutonium formed when plutonium-239 captures a neutron. The detection of its spontaneous fission led to its discovery in 1944 at Los Alamos and had important consequences for the Manhattan Project….Plutonium-240.

How long will it take 36 grams of plutonium-240 to decay to 12 grams?

How long will it take 36 grams of plutonium-240 to decay to 12 grams?. A. 18,900 years.

How does a breeder reactor use fertile material?

A fast-neutron reactor, meaning one with little or no neutron moderator and hence utilising fast neutrons, can be configured as a breeder reactor, producing more fissile material than it consumes, using fertile material in a blanket around the core, or contained in special fuel rods.

Which is the most fertile material in the world?

Uranium-238 and thorium-232 are known as fertile materials, and the production of fissile materials from them after capturing a neutron is known as breeding. When these fertile materials capture neutrons, they are converted into fissile plutonium-239 and uranium-233, respectively.

How are fertile materials converted into fissile materials?

When these fertile materials capture neutrons, they are converted into fissile plutonium -239 and uranium-233, respectively. Generally, larger nuclei with even atomic masses (such as thorium-232, plutonium-238, and uranium-238) are fertile materials. When the nuclei absorb a neutron, it induces an odd atomic mass—making it a fissile material.

Why do you need a Bull Breeding Soundness Examination?

Bull breeding soundness examination (BBSE) Given that a beef business is essentially driven by the number of animals it can sell, their weight and price, then there is a need to focus on the relative areas that will drive that profit.