Re: PuBe Sources - Increase in neutron flux

[Michael McNaughton <mcnaught@LANL.GOV>]

At 06:31 PM 4/19/01 -0700, Ken Smith wrote:

>Or is the Pu-241 just a contaminate

>in the processing and isotope separation of the original PuBe source?



Yes, Pu-241 is a contaminant. I doubt if there has been any isotopic 

separation, though I am not sure of this.



>Is the increase in activity caused by the shorter half-life

>of Pu-241 (14 yr) and its daughter (Am-241, 433 yr.)?



Yes. Alphas are needed to produce the alphas and Pu-241 does not emit 

alphas but Am-241 does.



>How far in the

>future will the output increase stabilize?



When the Pu-241 is mostly decayed, i.e., a few times the half-life of Pu-241.



mike

Mike McNaughton

Los Alamos National Lab.

email: mcnaught@LANL.gov or mcnaughton@LANL.gov

phone: (505)667-6130



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