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NASA PRHS- pt .1 c.1 F1NA.L REPORT PROPERTIES OF RADIOISOTOPE HEAT SOURCES Contract NAS 5-9156 by COOK ELECTRIC COMPANY TECH-CENTER DIVISION MORTONGROVE, ILLINOIS Prepared for NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION , GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER , ,. ADVANCED POWER SOURCES SECTION GREENBELT, MARYLAND r -- ~ NASA CR-75439 ' Source: STAR, I v.4 81.5. TECH LIBRARY KAFB. NM FINAL REPORT PROPERTIES OF RADIOISOTOPE HEAT SOURCES 25 March 1965 to 31 August 1965 PART I (UNCLASSIFIED) Contract NAS 5-9156 COOK ELECTR.IC COMPANY TECH-CENTER DIVISION MORTONGROVE, ILLINOIS Pr epa red for NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER ADVANCED POWER SOURCES SECTION GREENBELT, MAR-YLAND FINAL REPORT TITLE : Properties of Radioisotope Heat Sources CONTRACTOR Tech-CenterDivision Cook Electric Company Morton Grove, Illinois PERIOD: From 25 March 1965 to 31 August 1965 CLIENT:National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Advanced Power Sources Section Greenbelt,Maryland Mr. Dale Harris, Program Manager CONTRACT: NAS 5-9156 Program Manager D. E. Lehd6, Manager Undersea Warfare and Instrumentation Section ABSTRACT A report outlining the best available unclassified information on the nuclear, chemical, and physical properties of nine SNAP isotopes was prepared for NASA/GSFC Greenbelt, Maryland, Advanced Power Sourc.es Section. The isotopes reviewed are: Sr-90, Cs-134,Cs-137, Ce-144,Pm-147, Po-210, Pu-238, Cm-242, Cm-244. The properties reviewed were (1) Half Life; (2) Neutrons/Spontaneous Fission; (3) Neutrons from Spontaneous Fission; (4) Other sources of Radiation; (5) Energy Levels and Decay Schemes; (6) Fuel Forms; (7) Material Compatibility; (8) Effects of Impurities; (9) Thermal Conductivity; (10) Power Density; (11) Specific Power; (12) Heat Capacity; (13) Heat of Fusion; (14) Weight Density; (15) Melting Point; (16) Boiling Point; (17) Specific Activity; (18) Isotope Production, Availability,and Cost. At theend of each isotope section an annotated bibliography pertaining to that isotope is presented. i ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. S. J. Rimshaw of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory andMr. H. H. Van Tuyl of BattelleNorthwest. Their constructive criticism and many helpful suggestions are grate- fully acknowledged. .. 11 TABLEOFCONTENTS Page No. 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1. 1 Purpose 1 1.2 Scope 1 1.3 GeneralProgram Background 2 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THEREPORT 3 2. 1 ReferenceSources 3 2. 22. Verification of DataAccuracy 3 2. 3 2. ReportFormat 4 2. 4 Explanation of Terms 4 2. 4, 1 NeutronRadiation 4 2. 4. 2 Gamma Radiation 5 2. 4. 3 Explanation of DecayScheme Notation 7 3.0 PROPERTIES OF THEISOTOPES 8 3. 1 Strontium-90,Yttrium-90 8 3. 1. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 8 3. 1. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 9 3. 1, 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 11 3. 1. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 14 3. 1. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 18 3.2 Cesium- 134 30 3.2. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 30 3,2. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 32 3. 2.3 Thermaland Physical Properties 32 3. 2. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 34 3. 2. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 37 3. 3 3. Cesium- 137 61 3. 3. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 61 3. 3.2 ChemicalCharacteristics 62 3. 3. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 63 3.3. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 65 3. 3. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 67 iii I TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page No. 3 .4 Cerium-3.4 144 95 3.4. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 95 3.4. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 99 3. 4. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 101 3. 4. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 103 3. 4. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 107 3. 5 Promethium- 147 12 1 3.5. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 12 1 3.5. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 123 3. 5. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 125 3. 5. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 126 3. 5. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 130 3. 6 Polonium - 2 10 154 3. 6. 1 NuclearCharacterist.ics 154 3. 6. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 155 3. 6. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 156 3. 6. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 158 3. 6. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 161 3. a Plutonium-238 189 3. 7. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 189 3. 7. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 192 3. 7. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 195 3. 7. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 20 1 3. a. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 205 3. 8 Curium - 242 223 3. 8. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 223 3. 8. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 22 a 3. 8. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 23 1 3.8. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 232 3. 8. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 236 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page No. 3. 9 Curium- 244 258 3. 9. 1 NuclearCharacteristics 258 3. 9. 2 ChemicalCharacteristics 260 3. 9. 3 Thermaland Physical Properties 2 62 3. 9. 4 IsotopeProduction, Availability and Cost 264 3. 9. 5 AnnotatedBibliography 2 66 3. 10 GelleralAnnotated Bibliography 277 V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page No. No - 1 Sr-90 Decay Scheme 8 2 Y-90 Decay Scheme 8 3 Cs- 134 Decay Scheme 31 4 Cs-137 Decay Scheme 61 5 Ce- 144 Decay Scheme 96 6 Pr- 144 Decay Scheme 97 7 Pm- 147 Decay Scheme 121 8 Po-210 Decay Scheme 154 9 Pu-238 Decay Scheme 190 10 Cm-242 Decay Scheme 22 5 11 Dm-244 Decay Scheme 2 59 vi ~~ LIST OF TABLES Table Page No. No. I. Grouped Bremsstrahlung Spectral Distribution of Sr- Y-90 9 11. Strontium Compounds 10 111. Sr-90, Thermal and Physical Properties 13 IV . Thermal and Physical Properties of Cs - 134 Glass 33 V. Specific Activity of Cs-134 as a Function of Irradiation Time and Neutron Flux 35 VI. Specific Power and Power Densities for a Number of Cs-137 Compounds 63 VII. Thermal and Physical Properties of Cs-137 Glass 64 VIII. Bremsstrahlung From Pr-144 98 IX. Gamma Radiation Associated with Ce- 144, Pr- 144 98 X. Specific Activity and Power Density for a Number of Ce-144 Compounds 99 XI. Ce- 144 Physical Properties 101 XII. Promethium Decay Data 122 XIII. Promethium Compounds 123 XIV. Pm- 147 Containment Compatibility 124 xv. Thermal and Physical Properties of Pm and Pm2O3 125 XVI. Po- 2 10 Compounds 154 vii LIST OF TABLES (continued) Table Page No. No. XVII. Po-210Physical and Thermal Properties 157 XVIII. Gamma Radiation Associated with Pu-238 b ased on based U-235 191 XIX. Properties of PlutoniumFuelForms 192 xx * Compatibility of CeO2 and CeC2 (substitutes fo r Plutonium Compounds)Plutonium for 193 XXI. Compatibility Information Obtained from a L iterature Survey Literature 193 XXII. Summary of Experimental Work Performed the Martin Company 194Company Martin at the XXIII. Pu-238Physical and Thermal Properties 195 XXIV. Pu02ThermalConductivity for 197 xxv. The Specific Heat and Heats of Transformation P lutonium 198 of Plutonium XXVI. Structure Data on the Crystal Phases of Plutonium Metal 200 XXVII . Gamma RadiationAssociated with Cm-242 226 XXVIII. Properties of Curium-242Compounds 228 XXIX. Fuel Matrix Materialsfor Cm-242 Compounds 228 xxx. Compatibility for Cd2O3 and GdC2 (substitutes for Curium Compounds) with Metals at 20000F in an Argon Atmosphere 22 9 XXXI. Compatibility of Cd2O3 and GdCZ with Metals in a Vacuum Environment 230 viii ~~~ - LIST OF TABLES (continued) Table Page No. No. XXXII . Thermaland Physical Properties of Cm-242 231 XXXIII. Analysis of CuriumProduct One Year After Irradiation 2 60 i XXXIV. SignificantGamma Rays of Cm-244Product 261 xxxv. Properties of CompoundsCm-244 262 XXXVI. Thermaland Physical Properties of Cm-244 an d Cm2O3 263 Cm2O3 and ix 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.0 1. 1 PUPDOSe This final report has been prepared for the Advanced Power Sources Section, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland in partial fulfillment of the requirements set forth in NASA Contract NAS 5-9156. The portion of work on the subject contract covered by this report was initiated to satisfy two purposes. These were: (1) Editthe final reports generated by the Cook Electric Company under Contract NAS 5-3849 and by the Martin Company under Contract NAS 5-3879 and combine these reports into a single coherent volume. 62) Performan unclassified literature search on Ce- 144 from 1 January 1958 to the latest available information. (3)Include new referencesgenerated since the publication of the Cook and Martin reports. 1. 2 Scope Sections describing the nuclear, chemical, and physical characteristics, isotope production methods and costs of nine SNAP isotopesare presented. These isotopes are: Strontium-90 Cesium- 134 Cesium- 137 Cerium- 144 Promethium- 147 Polonium- 2 10 Plutonium-238 Curium-242 Curium-244 At the end of each section a bibliography for that isotope is presented.The bibliographies for all sectionsexcept Ce-144 - 1- cover the period from 1 January 1948 to 3 1 August 1965. The bibliography for Ce-144 begins with 1958. 1. 3 GeneralProgram Background For some time it has been of interest to the Advanced Power Sources Section of NASA to make available to those persons investigating power production through isotopes a single reference source describing the various properties of the most attractive SNAP isotopes. To accomplish this the Tech-Center Division of the Cook Electric Company and the Martin Company were contracted to prepare reports on these isotopes. The Cook effort was devoted mainly to a study of nuclear characteristics. The Martin Company effort dealt mainly with chemical and physical properties of the various isotopes. After the conclusion of these two programs the Tech-Center Division of Cook Electric Company contracted with NASA/GSFC to combine. these two reports into a single coherent volume. -2- 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THEREPORT 2. 1 ReferenceSources Two general sources of information were used in the compilation of thereport. These were: (1) A review of unclassifiedgovernment reports and scientific periodicals. (2) Letters of inquiryand personal visits to recognized authorities in the various fields. 2.2 Verification of Data Accuracy After the completion of the various sections, a rough draft of each section was submitted for review to an authority in that particular field.