uranium-232
Sign in to saveAlso known as U-232, 232U, Uranium 232
Uranium-232 ('''''') is an isotope of uranium. It has a half-life of 68.9 years and is a side product in the thorium cycle. It has been cited as an obstacle to nuclear proliferation using 233U as the fissile material, because the intense gamma radiation emitted by 208Tl (a daughter of 232U, produced relatively quickly) makes the 233U contaminated with it more difficult to handle.
Key facts
- Isotope.symbol
- U
- Isotope.mass_number
- 232
- Isotope.num_neutrons
- 140
- Isotope.num_protons
- 92
- Isotope.image
- Uranium-232.svg
- Isotope.decay_product
- Thorium-228
- Isotope.decay_symbol
- Th
- Isotope.decay_mass
- 228
- Isotope.decay_mode1
- Alpha
- Isotope.decay_energy1
- 5.414
- Isotope.parent
- Plutonium-236
- Isotope.parent_symbol
- Pu
- Isotope.parent_mass
- 236
- Isotope.parent_decay
- a
- Isotope.parent2
- Neptunium-232
- Isotope.parent2_symbol
- Np
- Isotope.parent2_mass
- 232
- Isotope.parent2_decay
- b+
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Encyclopedic overview
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Uranium-232 ('''''') is an isotope of uranium. It has a half-life of 68.9 years and is a side product in the thorium cycle. It has been cited as an obstacle to nuclear proliferation using 233U as the fissile material, because the intense gamma radiation emitted by 208Tl (a daughter of 232U, produced relatively quickly) makes the 233U contaminated with it more difficult to handle.
Production of 233U (through the neutron irradiation of 232Th) invariably produces small amounts of 232U as an impurity, because of parasitic (n,2n) reactions on uranium-233 itself, or on protactinium-233, or on thorium-232: 232Th (n,γ) 233Th (β−) 233Pa (β−) 233U (n,2n) 232U 232Th (n,γ) 233Th (β−) 233Pa (n,2n) 232Pa (β−) 232U 232Th (n,2n) 231Th (β−) 231Pa (n,γ) 232Pa (β−) 232U
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “uranium-232” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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