Ruthenium and rhodium are precious metals produced as a small percentage of the fission products from the nuclear fission of uranium. The longest half-lives of the radioisotopes of these elements generated by nuclear fission are 373.59 days for ruthenium and 45 days for rhodium[clarification needed]. This makes the extraction of the non-radioactive isotope from spent nuclear fuel possible after a few years of storage, although the extract must be checked for radioactivity from trace quantities of other elements before use.[1]
The radioactivity in MBq per gram of each of the platinum group metals which are formed by the fission of uranium. Of the metals shown, ruthenium is the most radioactive. Palladium has an almost constant activity, due to the very long half-life of the synthesized 107Pd, while rhodium is the least radioactive.
Each kilogram of the fission products of 235U will contain 63.44 grams of ruthenium isotopes with halflives longer than a day. Since a typical used nuclear fuel contains about 3% fission products, one ton of used fuel will contain about 1.9 kg of ruthenium. The 103Ru and 106Ru will render the fission ruthenium very radioactive. If the fission occurs in an instant then the ruthenium thus formed will have an activity due to 103Ru of 109 TBq g−1 and 106Ru of 1.52 TBq g−1. 103Ru has a half-life of about 39 days meaning that within 390 days it will have effectively decayed to the only stable isotope of rhodium, 103Rh, well before any reprocessing is likely to occur. 106Ru has a half-life of about 373 days, meaning that if the fuel is left to cool for 5 years before reprocessing only about 3% of the original quantity will remain; the rest will have decayed.[1] To put the values in the table into perspective, the activity in natural potassium (due to naturally occurring 40 K) is about 30 Bq per gram.[citation needed]
Rhodiumedit
It is possible to extract rhodium from used nuclear fuel: 1 kg of fission products of 235U contains 13.3 grams of 103Rh. At 3% fission products by weight, one ton of used fuel will contain about 400 grams of rhodium. The longest lived radioisotope of rhodium is 102mRh with a half-life of 2.9 years, while the ground state (102Rh) has a half-life of 207 days.[1]
Each kilogram of fission rhodium will contain 6.62 ng of 102Rh and 3.68 ng of 102mRh. As 102Rh decays by beta decay to either 102Ru (80%) (some positron emission will occur) or 102Pd (20%) (some gamma ray photons with about 500 keV are generated) and the excited state decays by beta decay (electron capture) to 102Ru (some gamma ray photons with about 1 MeV are generated). If the fission occurs in an instant then 13.3 grams of rhodium will contain 67.1 MBq (1.81 mCi) of 102Rh and 10.8 MBq (291 μCi) of 102mRh. As it is normal to allow used nuclear fuel to stand for about five years before reprocessing, much of this activity will decay away leaving 4.7 MBq of 102Rh and 5.0 MBq of 102mRh. If the rhodium metal was then left for 20 years after fission, the 13.3 grams of rhodium metal would contain 1.3 kBq of 102Rh and 500 kBq of 102mRh. Rhodium has the highest price of these precious metals ($440,000/kg in 2022[2]), but the cost of the separation of the rhodium from the other metals needs to be considered[editorializing], although recent high prices may create opportunity for consideration.[1]
Precious metals produced via irradiationedit
Goldedit
Chrysopoeia, the artificial production of gold, is the traditional goal of alchemy. Such transmutation is possible in particle accelerators or nuclear reactors, although the production cost is currently many times the market price of gold. Since there is only one stable gold isotope, 197Au, nuclear reactions must create this isotope in order to produce usable gold.[citation needed]
Gold was synthesized from mercury by neutron bombardment in 1941, but the isotopes of gold produced were all radioactive.[3] In 1924, a German scientist, Adolf Miethe, reported achieving the same feat, but after various replication attempts around the world, it was deemed an experimental error.[4][5][6]
In 1980, Glenn Seaborg transmuted several thousand atoms of bismuth into gold at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. His experimental technique was able to remove protons and neutrons from the bismuth atoms. Seaborg's technique was far too expensive to enable the routine manufacture of gold but his work is the closest yet to emulating an aspect of the mythical Philosopher's Stone.[7][8]
^ abcdBush, R. P. (1991). "Recovery of Platinum Group Metals from High Level Radioactive Waste" (PDF). Platinum Metals Review. 35 (4): 202–208.
^"Rhodium Spot Prices Per Ounce Today, Live Bullion Price Chart USD". Money Metals Exchange. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
^R. Sherr; K. T. Bainbridge & H. H. Anderson (1941). "Transmutation of Mercury by Fast Neutrons". Physical Review. 60 (7): 473–479. Bibcode:1941PhRv...60..473S. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.60.473.
^A.Miethe, ”Der Zerfall des Quecksilberatoms,” Naturwissenschaften, 12(1924): 597-598
^"GOLD FROM MERCURY IMPOSSIBLE; New York University Tests Show That Transmutation Method Does Not Work. MIETHE PROCESS USED His Discovery of Gold Traces Laid to Use of Spanish Mercury, Which Contains Gold". The New York Times. October 20, 1925. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
^Nelson, Robert A. "Adept Alchemy. Part II. Chapter 7. Transmutations of Mercury". Retrieved September 9, 2023.
^ Aleklett, K.; Morrissey, D.; Loveland, W.; McGaughey, P.; Seaborg, G. (1981). "Energy dependence of 209Bi fragmentation in relativistic nuclear collisions". Physical Review C. 23 (3): 1044. Bibcode:1981PhRvC..23.1044A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.23.1044.
^Matthews, Robert (December 2, 2001). "The Philosopher's Stone". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
External linksedit
Mercury 197
Mercury 197 decays to Gold 197
Kolarik, Zdenek; Renard, Edouard V. (2005). "Potential Applications of Fission Platinoids in Industry" (PDF). Platinum Metals Review. 49 (2): 79. doi:10.1595/147106705X35263.
Kolarik, Zdenek; Renard, Edouard V. (2003). "Recovery of Value Fission Platinoids from Spent Nuclear Fuel. Part I PART I: General Considerations and Basic Chemistry" (PDF). Platinum Metals Review. 47 (2): 74–87.
Kolarik, Zdenek; Renard, Edouard V. (2003). "Recovery of Value Fission Platinoids from Spent Nuclear Fuel. Part II: Separation Process" (PDF). Platinum Metals Review. 47 (2): 123–131.
October 30, 2023
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The synthesis of precious metals involves the use of either nuclear reactors or particle accelerators to produce these elements Contents 1 Precious metals occurring as fission products 1 1 Ruthenium 1 2 Rhodium 2 Precious metals produced via irradiation 2 1 Gold 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksPrecious metals occurring as fission products editRuthenium and rhodium are precious metals produced as a small percentage of the fission products from the nuclear fission of uranium The longest half lives of the radioisotopes of these elements generated by nuclear fission are 373 59 days for ruthenium and 45 days for rhodium clarification needed This makes the extraction of the non radioactive isotope from spent nuclear fuel possible after a few years of storage although the extract must be checked for radioactivity from trace quantities of other elements before use 1 nbsp The radioactivity in MBq per gram of each of the platinum group metals which are formed by the fission of uranium Of the metals shown ruthenium is the most radioactive Palladium has an almost constant activity due to the very long half life of the synthesized 107Pd while rhodium is the least radioactive Ruthenium edit See also Airborne radioactivity increase in Europe in autumn 2017 Each kilogram of the fission products of 235U will contain 63 44 grams of ruthenium isotopes with halflives longer than a day Since a typical used nuclear fuel contains about 3 fission products one ton of used fuel will contain about 1 9 kg of ruthenium The 103Ru and 106Ru will render the fission ruthenium very radioactive If the fission occurs in an instant then the ruthenium thus formed will have an activity due to 103Ru of 109 TBq g 1 and 106Ru of 1 52 TBq g 1 103Ru has a half life of about 39 days meaning that within 390 days it will have effectively decayed to the only stable isotope of rhodium 103Rh well before any reprocessing is likely to occur 106Ru has a half life of about 373 days meaning that if the fuel is left to cool for 5 years before reprocessing only about 3 of the original quantity will remain the rest will have decayed 1 To put the values in the table into perspective the activity in natural potassium due to naturally occurring 40 K is about 30 Bq per gram citation needed Rhodium edit It is possible to extract rhodium from used nuclear fuel 1 kg of fission products of 235U contains 13 3 grams of 103Rh At 3 fission products by weight one ton of used fuel will contain about 400 grams of rhodium The longest lived radioisotope of rhodium is 102mRh with a half life of 2 9 years while the ground state 102Rh has a half life of 207 days 1 Each kilogram of fission rhodium will contain 6 62 ng of 102Rh and 3 68 ng of 102mRh As 102Rh decays by beta decay to either 102Ru 80 some positron emission will occur or 102Pd 20 some gamma ray photons with about 500 keV are generated and the excited state decays by beta decay electron capture to 102Ru some gamma ray photons with about 1 MeV are generated If the fission occurs in an instant then 13 3 grams of rhodium will contain 67 1 MBq 1 81 mCi of 102Rh and 10 8 MBq 291 mCi of 102mRh As it is normal to allow used nuclear fuel to stand for about five years before reprocessing much of this activity will decay away leaving 4 7 MBq of 102Rh and 5 0 MBq of 102mRh If the rhodium metal was then left for 20 years after fission the 13 3 grams of rhodium metal would contain 1 3 kBq of 102Rh and 500 kBq of 102mRh Rhodium has the highest price of these precious metals 440 000 kg in 2022 2 but the cost of the separation of the rhodium from the other metals needs to be considered editorializing although recent high prices may create opportunity for consideration 1 Precious metals produced via irradiation editGold edit Chrysopoeia the artificial production of gold is the traditional goal of alchemy Such transmutation is possible in particle accelerators or nuclear reactors although the production cost is currently many times the market price of gold Since there is only one stable gold isotope 197Au nuclear reactions must create this isotope in order to produce usable gold citation needed Gold was synthesized from mercury by neutron bombardment in 1941 but the isotopes of gold produced were all radioactive 3 In 1924 a German scientist Adolf Miethe reported achieving the same feat but after various replication attempts around the world it was deemed an experimental error 4 5 6 In 1980 Glenn Seaborg transmuted several thousand atoms of bismuth into gold at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory His experimental technique was able to remove protons and neutrons from the bismuth atoms Seaborg s technique was far too expensive to enable the routine manufacture of gold but his work is the closest yet to emulating an aspect of the mythical Philosopher s Stone 7 8 See also editNuclear transmutationReferences edit a b c d Bush R P 1991 Recovery of Platinum Group Metals from High Level Radioactive Waste PDF Platinum Metals Review 35 4 202 208 Rhodium Spot Prices Per Ounce Today Live Bullion Price Chart USD Money Metals Exchange Retrieved 2022 06 23 R Sherr K T Bainbridge amp H H Anderson 1941 Transmutation of Mercury by Fast Neutrons Physical Review 60 7 473 479 Bibcode 1941PhRv 60 473S doi 10 1103 PhysRev 60 473 A Miethe Der Zerfall des Quecksilberatoms Naturwissenschaften 12 1924 597 598 GOLD FROM MERCURY IMPOSSIBLE New York University Tests Show That Transmutation Method Does Not Work MIETHE PROCESS USED His Discovery of Gold Traces Laid to Use of Spanish Mercury Which Contains Gold The New York Times October 20 1925 Retrieved September 9 2023 Nelson Robert A Adept Alchemy Part II Chapter 7 Transmutations of Mercury Retrieved September 9 2023 Aleklett K Morrissey D Loveland W McGaughey P Seaborg G 1981 Energy dependence of 209Bi fragmentation in relativistic nuclear collisions Physical Review C 23 3 1044 Bibcode 1981PhRvC 23 1044A doi 10 1103 PhysRevC 23 1044 Matthews Robert December 2 2001 The Philosopher s Stone The Daily Telegraph Retrieved September 22 2020 External links editSpallation Neutron Source Mercury 197 Mercury 197 decays to Gold 197 Kolarik Zdenek Renard Edouard V 2005 Potential Applications of Fission Platinoids in Industry PDF Platinum Metals Review 49 2 79 doi 10 1595 147106705X35263 Kolarik Zdenek Renard Edouard V 2003 Recovery of Value Fission Platinoids from Spent Nuclear Fuel Part I PART I General Considerations and Basic Chemistry PDF Platinum Metals Review 47 2 74 87 Kolarik Zdenek Renard Edouard V 2003 Recovery of Value Fission Platinoids from Spent Nuclear Fuel Part II Separation Process PDF Platinum Metals Review 47 2 123 131 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Synthesis of precious metals amp oldid 1174588102, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
