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Nuclear techniques for the determination of uranium and thorium and their decay products

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A Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis

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Abstract

Two naturally-occurring uranium isotopes (235U,238U) and one thorium isotope (232Th) occur in nature and are unusual in two respects. The first is that these isotopes are naturally radioactive, decaying mainly by alpha emission via a whole chain of daughter isotopes, the ultimate stable end products being 207Pb, 206Pb and 208Pb respectively. The second unusual feature is that during neutron irradiation, they undergo nuclear fission, 235U predominantly in a thermal neutron flux and 238U, 232Th in a fast neutron flux. These properties have led to the development of a number of techniques specific for uranium and thorium, including the following.

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  1. The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    P. J. Potts (Senior Research Fellow in Earth Sciences)

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Potts, P.J. (1987). Nuclear techniques for the determination of uranium and thorium and their decay products. In: A Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3270-5_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3270-5_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-216-93209-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3270-5

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