I dag er det mandag, og selv om jeg glemte meg bort forrige mandag (huff og huff), så er jeg ikke ferdig med oppskriftsmandag, altså, og i dag er turen kommet for oppskrift på uran-233, som kanskje er min favoritturan-isotop 😀
Du trenger:
- thorium-232 (du kan bare plukke det rett fra naturen, for thorium eksisterer naturlig kun som thorium-232 😀 )
- nøytroner
- en reaktor (alle typer funker 😀 )
Du gjør:
Lag brenselspellets av thorium. Putt disse inn i reaktoren, og start denne; det vil altså si at thoriumet blir beskutt av nøytroner inne i reaktoren.
Vent, minst i en måned, helst en god stund til; jo lenger du venter, jo mer uran-233 vil dannes. Eller, inntil en viss grad, da, for man når jo et metnings- eller balansepunkt, hvor mengden uran-233 som ødelegges er like stor som den mengden som dannes;)))
Voila! Du har laget uran-233, som nå er blandet sammen med thoriumet du startet med (det er altså en viss andel av thoriumet som blir til uran-233), og noen andre stoffer...
NB NB!
Du vil med denne oppskriften også lage noe uran-232, og denne er ikke til å spøke med; den er nemlig opphavet til en 2.6 megaelektronvolts (dette er skikkelig mye, faktisk) gammastråle, som gjør at du ikke kan håndtere det brukte thorium-brenselet (og det er jo inne i dette at ditt nylagede uran-233 er) lenge før du har fått en dødelig stråledose...;)
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| Litt kjedelig at man absolutt må få dannet uran-232, da, når man egentlig bare har lyst på uran-233 :/ |
LYKKE TIL <3<3<3
Hvordan anriker jeg det videre til U235 da? 😀
Hello Sunniva Rose!
I would like to provide you a link to a nice article that describes a process that allows very pure U-233 to be produced with low U-232 contamination.
"Preparation of Uranium-233 with Low Uranium-232 Content"
by Tetsuo HASHIMOTO
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jnst1964/13/3/13_3_119/_pdf
It is significantly safer to nuclear operators and workers to load and install U-233 fuel that has low U-232 contamination. At the Hanford facility in Washington State where the USA produced fissile materials during the cold war over 624 kilograms of very pure U-233 was produced with less than 2 ppm U-232 contamination.
There is also a patent for a process for producing U-233 with low U-232 contamination in Light Water Reactors resulting in 2 ppm U-232 contamination.
US Patent number: 4393510 - Reactor for production of U-233
by Linton W. Lang et al
You may or perhaps may not be familiar with use of Thorium fuel in fluid fuel Molten Salt Reactors. While less common than solid fuel rod based Light Water Reactors, Molten Salt Reactors, and in particular, Thorium Molten Salt Reactors have many significant advantages when run on Thorium/U-233 fuel.
(In a minimum number of words)
The Thorium Molten Salt Reactor Advantage -
Of the two natural fuels for nuclear power (uranium and thorium), only thorium can be completely consumed in a "thermal-spectrum" reactor. Uranium can only be completely consumed in a fast neutron reactor. All of our commercial reactors today are "thermal-spectrum" reactors, and they’re that way because they can be built in their most stable configuration and with the minimum amount of fuel.
I suggest that it is easier, safer, and less costly to design and operate thermal neutron spectrum reactors. If you want to minimize nuclear waste - even to the point of nearly eliminating it - you must be able to completely consume your nuclear fuel and thorium is the fuel that can do this in a thermal reactor.
Note: The above paragraph is not entirely original to me but owes inspiration from Kirk Sorensen, a well known Thorium advocate in USA.
As North Sea Oil is gradually used up, Norway is in need of a new long term sustainable form of reliable energy. Thorium and Deuterium extracted from sea water are "Super Fuels" for the future.
Best wishes,
Robert Steinhaus - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (retired)
email: robert.steinhaus@gmail.com
website/blog: Practical fusion to fully power the planet longer than the earth has existed or the sun will burn
http://goo.gl/g5ycR
Additional short comment on producing U-233 with low U-232 contamination -
Any reactor that produces an excess of neutrons can be used to breed U-233 from Th-232. An epi-thermal Molten Salt Reactor with use of a graphite moderator will probably produce U-233 with between 220-400ppm U-232 contamination. Removing U-232 from U-233 is difficult, as it requires an isotopic separation. Most of the radiation (2.6 MeV hard gamma) is actually produced by Tl-208 and other decay daughters of U-232, not the U-232 itself.
ORNL worked out a process [1] where the decay daughters of U-232 that in fact produce most of the radiation that result from U-232 contamination can be removed chemically on a temporary basis making heavily contaminated U-233 taken from a epi-thermal LFTR safe to handle and machine for ~3 weeks. 3 weeks is all of the time needed to machine and manufacture a weapon from U-233 taken from the dump tank of a LFTR with Pa-233 removal.
[1] - ORNL-4731 Laboratory Development of a PRESSURIZED CATION EXCHANGE PROCESS. FOR REMOVING THE DAUGHTERS OF U-232 from U-233
R. H. Rainey
http://www.ornl.gov/info/reports/1972/3445605995418.pdf
Note: Even LFTRs that do not allow Pa-233 removal but do include a fluorination step to separate bred uranium and fission products could be used to produce lower quality weapons usable material using ORNL-4731. Bred U-233 taken from a reactor would probably be only about 60% U-233 but this is high enough to still be of significant concern as the threshold for LEU with U-233 is only about 12%.
Note: About two billion people on the planet have no regular access to electricity - Richard E. Smalley, “Future Global Energy Prosperity: The Terawatt Challenge”
http://bit.ly/aglriT