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Gold/Mining/Energy : A New Age In Gold Refining
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To: Bill Jackson who wrote (445)1/16/1998 1:14:00 PM
From: Chuck Bleakney  Read Replies (1) of 672
 
>> Neutron activation assay will get all elements that will add neutrns to give a radioisotope, and gold and plat do that. <<

Not entirely true... Neutron activation works by the absorbtion of a neutron by a substance turning it into another isotope of that substance... Whether or not a substance will absorb that neutron depends upon a number of factors. If a strong absorber is present and effectively shields another element then the likelihood of activating that element is greatly diminished... this would give very skewed results in a standard neutron activation analysis.
Elements have very different absorbtions depending upon the energy of the free neutrons. Most activation analysis is done with
"thermal" neutrons. These are neutrons that have been slowed down by interactions with lighter elements (H,C,He, etc) until they are in
equilibrium with the average thermal velocities of these elements.

Fast fluxes are harder to get and control but can allow one to do things you can't with a thermal flux because of how the absorbtion
changes with the average energy of the flux.

The bottom line is that Mike's comment about a cluster trapped inside
not being able to be activated as it usually would be expected to by
neutron activation is correct when the trapping element has a very high cross section for absorbtion.

If you haven't already figured this I have a significant understanding in nuclear theory... this is required of anyone who has held a license to operate a nuclear reactor. I've done more than my share of neutron
activation analysis's.

Chuck
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