Production of 48V in a nuclear reactor via secondary tritons

Abstract

The production of 48 V in a nuclear reactor, induced on titanium by tritons generated from the 6 Li(n, t) 4 He reaction, and eventually 7 Li(n, n t) 4 He, is described. Samples of lithium titanate were irradiated for an irradiation cycle (120 h) in the RA-3 reactor, belonging to Ezeiza Atomic Centre. After a radiochemical separation, the characteristic radiations from 48 V were identified in the gamma ray spectra of the vanadium fractions.

Radiochemistry

“…When samples of lithium titanate are irradiated with thermal neutrons in the presence of a lithium compound, the tritons produced by the [Li 6 (n,H 3 )He 4 ] reaction, react 24 with the titanium nuclei to produce vanadium-48. The proton bombardment of natural iron 25 gives rise to many different radioisotopes of chromium, manganese and cobalt, whose relative abundances vary with beam energy.…”