Relative Yields of Stable Tellurium Isotopes in Neutron-induced Fission

Abstract

The relative isotopic abundances of four isotopes of tellurium (125, 126, 128 and 130) produced in the thermal neutron fission of 233U and 23SU have been measured for the first time by solid source mass spectrometry. Samples of 233U and 23SU were irradiated in a reactor and chemically separated by ion exchange techniques to permit nanogram-sized samples of fission product tellurium to be analysed mass spectrometrically. The results for 23SU are in good agreement with published radiometric values, whereas our results for 233U are the first experimental measurements in this mass range. The cumulative fission yields determined by mass spectrometry for ruthenium, palladium, cadmium, tin and tellurium show a smooth mass distribution in the symmetric region for both 233U and 235U, except for a significant depression in the yield curve in the range 111-14.