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mesa
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Hey guys, about how far do fission products travel on average in UO2? This will obviously be a fairly short distance, but does anyone have any ideas or links to information on this?
Indeed, yes.berkeman said:Do you mean in a fuel rod in a reactor? Or somewhere else?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_dioxide
Great source, and a fun paper in general, you don't see proposals like these too often anymore.Alex A said:10um is commonly quoted as a rule of thumb and that is all I had in my head so I did a quick google. This rather fun paper https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6868318 on fission fragment rockets gives a value of 6.2um in Uranium Carbide and 16.2um in carbon. Uranium dioxide will probably be quite close to UC. There could be some variation according to the fragment type. Energy loss is probably roughly proportional to track length. Think alpha particle like ionisation paths.
Papers on fission counters may give more information.
Good information as always Astronuc, I'll have to dust my copy off when I get into work tomorrow. This seems inline with the paper Alex A referenced.Astronuc said:The text, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3rd Edition, by John Lamarsh and Anthony J. Baratta, Prentice Hall, 2001, p. 108 shows ranges of fission products to be 6.6 microns in U and 14 microns in U3O8, so probably about 10 microns in UO2. Of course, this depends on porosity of the ceramic, which could increase the range, since the pores have little stopping power, even filled with gas.
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Nice, looking into it more.Vanadium 50 said:You can use the Bethe-Bloch formula, especially if you just want an estimate:
dE/dx for U2O is about 12 MeV per cen times Z2. So for E = 100 MeV and Z = 40, you get 50 microns. I am dropping some logarithmic terms here, so it's only good to a factor of a few, but you can use the full formula if you want better accuracy.
Fission products can travel varying distances depending on a number of factors, such as the type of nuclear reactor, the amount of fission that has occurred, and the surrounding environment. In general, fission products can travel up to several miles from the reactor site.
The distance that fission products can travel is primarily determined by the type of nuclear reactor and the amount of fission that has occurred. Additionally, factors such as weather conditions, topography, and the presence of barriers can also affect the distance traveled.
Yes, fission products can travel long distances, especially in the case of a major nuclear accident or explosion. For example, during the Chernobyl disaster, fission products were carried by wind currents and were detected thousands of miles away in other parts of Europe.
Fission products can be transported through various means, including air, water, and soil. They can also be carried by wind currents and deposited on surfaces, or transported through the food chain via plants and animals.
Fission products can remain radioactive for varying amounts of time, depending on the specific elements involved. Some fission products have short half-lives and decay relatively quickly, while others have longer half-lives and can remain radioactive for thousands of years. It is important to properly dispose of radioactive waste to prevent long-term environmental and health effects.