Uranium-233
Fissile isotope of uranium / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Uranium-233?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Uranium-233 (233U or U-233) is a fissile isotope of uranium that is bred from thorium-232 as part of the thorium fuel cycle. Uranium-233 was investigated for use in nuclear weapons and as a reactor fuel.[2] It has been used successfully in experimental nuclear reactors and has been proposed for much wider use as a nuclear fuel. It has a half-life of 160,000 years.
General | |
---|---|
Symbol | 233U |
Names | uranium-233, 233U, U-233 |
Protons (Z) | 92 |
Neutrons (N) | 141 |
Nuclide data | |
Half-life (t1/2) | 160,000 years[1] |
Isotope mass | 233.039 Da |
Parent isotopes | 237Pu (α) 233Np (β+) 233Pa (β−) |
Decay products | 229Th |
Isotopes of uranium Complete table of nuclides |
Uranium-233 is produced by the neutron irradiation of thorium-232. When thorium-232 absorbs a neutron, it becomes thorium-233, which has a half-life of only 22 minutes. Thorium-233 decays into protactinium-233 through beta decay. Protactinium-233 has a half-life of 27 days and beta decays into uranium-233; some proposed molten salt reactor designs attempt to physically isolate the protactinium from further neutron capture before beta decay can occur, to maintain the neutron economy (if it misses the 233U window, the next fissile target is 235U, meaning a total of 4 neutrons needed to trigger fission).
233U usually fissions on neutron absorption, but sometimes retains the neutron, becoming uranium-234. The capture-to-fission ratio of uranium-233 is smaller than those of the other two major fissile fuels, uranium-235 and plutonium-239.[citation needed]