Ikeda N. The discoveries of uranium 237 and symmetric fission - from the archival papers of Nishina and Kimura.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE JAPAN ACADEMY. SERIES B, PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2011;
87:371-376. [PMID:
21785255 PMCID:
PMC3171289 DOI:
10.2183/pjab.87.371]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2011] [Accepted: 05/10/2011] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Shortly before the Second World War time, Nishina reported on a series of prominent nuclear physical and radiochemical studies in collaboration with Kimura. They artificially produced (231)Th, a member of the natural actinium series of nuclides, by bombarding thorium with fast neutrons. This resulted in the discovery of (237)U, a new isotope of uranium, by bombarding uranium with fast neutrons, and confirmed that (237)U disintegrates into element 93 with a mass number of 237. They also identified the isotopes of several middle-weighted elements produced by the symmetric fission of uranium. In this review article, the highlights of their work are briefly summarized along with some explanatory commentaries.
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