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Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 224

The experimental nuclear spectroscopic data for ten experimentally known nuclides of mass number 224 (Bi, Po, At, Rn, Fr, Ra, Ac, Th, Pa, U) have been evaluated and presented together with the Adopted properties for levels and γ rays. For {sup 224}Bi, {sup 224}Po, {sup 224}At, {sup 224}Rn, {sup 224}Fr, {sup 224}Pa and {sup 224}U nuclei, only the ground–state information is known. Half–lives of ground states of 224Bi and 224Po have not yet been measured. The decay of {sup 224}Rn to {sup 224}Fr has been studied, but no decay scheme has been proposed. The decay of {sup 224}Ac to {sup 224}Ra is reported only in an abstract style conference proceedings. For a definite Jπ assignment for ground state of {sup 224}Ac, a detailed study of this decay may be helpful. In the decay of {sup 228}Pa to {sup 224}Ac, authors of 1994Ah03 state that the lowest state observed in their work may not be the ground state. Thus an extensive study of {sup 228}Pa α decay, and studies involving nuclear reactions are warranted since the level scheme of {sup 224}Ac presented in this evaluation is considered as incomplete due to the lack of confirmed information about multipolarities, mixing ratios and other spectroscopic details. Three new nuclides {sup 224}Bi, {sup 224}Po, and {sup 224}At are added in this revision, together with new in–beam γ–ray and Coulomb excitation data for {sup 224}Ra. Although, not much new experimental data have appeared since the previous evaluation (1997Ar05), extensive modifications have been made in almost all the datasets. This work supersedes the information presented in the previous NDS evaluations of A = 224: 1997Ar05, 1986Ma45 and 1976El05.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Measurement of the 230 Th( p ,2n)Pa229 and 230 Th( p ,3n)Pa228 reaction cross sections from 14.1 to 16.9 MeV

Actinium-225 is of interest for medical isotope production and there is on-going research into methods of producing Ac 225 , either directly or via the decay of its parent isotopes ( Th 229 , Pa 229 , and Ra 225 ). One method that has been suggested is the Th 230 ( p , 2 n ) Pa 229 reaction. However, there is no available cross-section data for this reaction in the literature. Purpose: Measure the Th 230 ( p , 2 n ) and Th 230 ( p , 3 n ) reaction cross sections in the energy range where the ( p , 2 n ) reaction is predicted to peak to determine the feasibility of Ac 225 production via the Th 230 ( p , 2 n ) reaction. Methods: Targets naturally enriched in Th 230 were irradiated at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with energies ranging from 14.1 to 16.9 MeV. Furthermore, chemical processing was used to separate the protactinium activation products, followed by γ -ray spectroscopy to measure the activities of Pa 228 , 229 , 230 , 232 produced in the irradiation. Results: We find that excitation functions are reported for the first time in the literature for the Th 230 ( p , 2 n ) and Th 230 ( p , 3 n ) reactions in this energy range. The peak measured value of the Th 230 ( p , 2 n ) reaction was found to be 182 ± 12 mb at 14.4 ± 0.1 MeV. The Th 232 ( p , n ) Pa 232 reaction was used to verify the experimental conditions, the measured values are reported and are comparable to the existing literature values. From the γ -ray spectrometry data, the half-life of Pa 229 was measured as 1.5 ± 0.1 days, which is within the error of the half-life reported in the evaluated nuclear data as well as in the recent measurements, and the half-life of Pa 228 was measured as 19.5 ± 0.4 hours. Conclusions: Overall, the Th 230 ( p , 2 n ) Pa 229 reaction could reasonably be used for Ac 225 isotope production, although significant amounts of relatively isotopically pure Th 230 would be needed for significant production because the low alpha-decay branching ratio of Pa 229 and long half-life of Th 229 inhibit the in-growth of significant amounts of Ac 225 .

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗