ISOTOPES

Isotope,oneoftwoormorespecies of
atom having the same atomic number,
hence constituting the same element,
but differing in mass number. As
atomic number is equivalent to the
number of protons in the nucleus, and
mass number is the sum total of the
protons plus the neutrons in the
nucleus, isotopes of the same element
differ from one another only in the

RESEARCH ABOUT
ISOTOPES
Experimentscarriedout early in the 20th century
indicated that radioactive substances that were
chemically inseparable might differ from each other
only in the structure of their nuclei. The British physicist
Sir Joseph Thomson demonstrated in 1912 the existence
of stable isotopes by passing neon through a discharge
tube and deflecting the neon ions by means of magnetic
and electric fields; this showed that the stable element
neon exists in more than one form. Thomson found two
isotopes of neon, one of mass number 20 and another
of mass 22. Later experiments showed that naturally
occurring neon contains 90% of neon-20 (the isotope
with mass 20), 9.73% neon-22, and 0.27% neon-21.
Research on isotopes was continued by many scientists,
notably the British physicist Francis William Aston; their

RESEARCH ABOUT
ISOTOPES
Itisnowknownthatmost elements in the natural
state consist of a mixture of two or more isotopes.
Among the exceptions are beryllium, aluminum,
phosphorus, and sodium. The chemical atomic
weight (atomic wt.) of an element is the weighted
average of the individual atomic weights, or mass
numbers, of the isotopes. For example, chlorine,
atomic wt. 35.457, is composed of chlorine-35 and
chlorine-37, the former occurring with an
abundance of 76% and the latter of 24%. All the
isotopes of elements with atomic numbers higher
than 83 (above bismuth in the periodic table) are
radioactive, and a few of the lighter isotopes, such

RESEARCH ABOUT
ISOTOPES
Artificialradioactive isotopes, known also
as radioisotopes, were produced for the
first time in 1933 by the French physicists
Irne
and
Frdric
Joliot-Curie.
Radioisotopes are prepared by the
bombardment of naturally occurring
atoms with nuclear particles, such as
neutrons, electrons, protons, and alpha
particles using particle accelerators.

SEPARATION OF
ISOTOPES
Theseparationofisotopes of the same element from
each other is difficult. Full separation in one step by
chemical methods is impossible, because isotopes of
the same elements have the same chemical properties;
physical methods are generally based on the extremely
small differences in physical properties caused by the
differences in mass of the isotopes. Electrolytic
separation and various exchange procedures for isotope
separation, however, depend on chemical rate or
equilibrium differences that are based primarily on the
difference in energy of chemical bonds, which are a
function of isotope mass. The isotopes of hydrogen,
deuterium (hydrogen-2) and ordinary hydrogen
(hydrogen-1) were the first to be separated in

CENTRIFUGE AND
DISTILLATION METHOD
Inthecentrifugemethod the apparatus is so
arranged that vapor flows downward in the outer
part of the rotating cylinder and upward in the
central region of the cylinder. The centrifugal
force acts more strongly on the heavy molecules
than on the light ones, increasing the
concentration of the heavy isotopes in the outer
region. In separation by fractional distillation a
mixture containing various isotopes is distilled.
The molecules of the fraction having the lower
boiling point (the lighter isotopes) tend to
concentrate in the vapor stream and are

THERMAL
DIFFUSION
Thismethodutilizesthe
tendency

of
lighter
molecules of a liquid or gas to concentrate in a hot
region and for heavier molecules to concentrate in a
cold region. A simple form of thermal-diffusion
apparatus consists of a tall vertical tube with a wire
electrically heated to about 500 C (932 F) running
down its center, producing a temperature gradient
between the center and wall of the tube. The heavier
isotopes tend to concentrate in the outer portions of
the tube, and the lighter isotopes, to concentrate
toward the center. At the same time, because of
thermal convection, the gas or liquid near the wire
tends to rise, and the cooler outer gas or liquid tends
to fall. The overall effect is that the heavier isotopes
collect at the bottom of the tube and the lighter at

ELECTROLYSIS
Theelectrolyticmethod of separation is of
historical as well as current interest,
because it was the first method used to
separate practically pure deuterium. This
method depends on the fact that when
water undergoes electrolysis, the lighter
hydrogen isotope tends to come off first,
leaving behind a residue of water that is
enriched in the heavier isotope.

GASEOUS
DIFFUSION
Thisandtheelectromagnetic method of separating
isotopes of uranium afforded the first large-scale
separation ever achieved. The problem of
separating uranium-235 from uranium-238 arose in
1940 after the demonstration of the susceptibility
of the 235 isotope to fission by neutrons. Uranium235 exists in naturally occurring uranium to the
extent of 7 parts to 1000 of uranium-238. Under
the auspices of the atomic bomb project, the
various methods for separating isotopes were
considered, and the gaseous-diffusion and
electromagnetic methods were put into large-scale
operation for the production of about 1 kg (2.2 lb)

GASEOUS
DIFFUSION
Thegaseous-diffusion
method
exploits

the
different rate of diffusion of gases of different
molecular weight. The rate of diffusion of a gas is
inversely proportional to the square root of the
mass; light atoms diffuse through a porous
barrier faster than heavier atoms. In the
separation of uranium isotopes, the only gaseous
compound of uranium, the fluoride of uranium,
UF6, is used. The uranium hexafluoride is
pumped continuously through porous barriers.
The difference in weight between uranium-235
and uranium-238 is slightly greater than 1%, but

GASEOUS
DIFFUSION

The enrichment factor, which depends on the

square root of the above difference, is
theoretically 0.43% for an instantaneous process
or 0.30% for a continuous process, but in
practice an enrichment factor of only about
0.14% per stage has been achieved. To produce
99% uranium-235 from natural uranium, which
contains about 0.7% uranium-235, 4000 such
stages are required. The process requires the use
of thousands of miles of pipe, thousands of
pumps and motors, and intricate control
mechanisms.

ELECTROMAGNETIS
M method yields large
Althoughthegaseous-diffusion
amounts of uranium-235, the first comparatively
large amounts of the isotope were produced by
electromagnetic means at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A
series of separator units was built in which an ionic
beam obtained from a uranium compound was
passed through a magnetic field. Because the radius
of the curvature of the path of the ions deflected by
the beam depends on the mass of the ion, ions of
different mass complete their path at different
positions, and the uranium isotopes are appreciably
separated. Only a small amount of material, however,
can be treated in one operation. Because of this
limitation
on
production,
the
use
of
the

LASER BEAM
Theconceptoflaserseparation and enrichment of
isotopes arose soon after the invention of the laser in
1960. It gained further incentive six years later with the
development of the tunable dye laser, which provides
photon beams in a selectably narrow range of infrared to
ultraviolet wavelengths. According to this concept, if an
element is first vaporized its atoms can then be selectively
excited and ionized by an accurately tuned laser beam to
separate out the desired isotope. Isotopes can also be
separated in molecular form by selective laser-beam
dissociation of those molecules of the compound that
contain the desired isotope. Since 1972 such processes
have been under development, particularly for uranium
and plutonium enrichmentfor nuclear power and nuclear
weapons, respectively. Much of the work in the U.S. is
classified, but a pilot plant may be operational by the later