Possibility of transmutation of Cs135 by ultraintense laser

Abstract

The possibility of photo-transmutation of long-lived nuclide Cs135 by ultrashort ultraintense laser was analytically evaluated. The yield of Cs135(γ,n) Cs134 was strongly dependent on the laser intensity at around 1020W∕cm2. If Cs135 were irradiated by such a laser with the intensity of 1021W∕cm2 and 10 Hz for 30 min, characteristic γ-ray counting rate was estimated to be 3 Bq.

A potential photo-transmutation of fission products triggered by Compton backscattering photons

“…It is therefore accepted in our calculations to substitute the crosssections of 127 I, 133 Cs, 124 Sn, 92 Zr, 133 Cs and 88 Sr for those of 129 I, 135 Cs, 126 Sn, 93 Zr, 137 Cs and 90 Sr, respectively. This temporary expedient has also been adopted in other works [8,10]. In the future, we expect to measure the unknown photonuclear crosssections at the SLEGS facility, and then to check the current expedient.…”

“…Table 2. For comparison, we also list the corresponding results for the bremsstrahlung method driven by the 10 20 W=cm 2 laser at the typical repetition frequency of 10 Hz [10]. Due to the rather flat energy spectrum and the high current for the CBS photons generated from SLEGS, we can obtain a high photo-transmutation rate, at least four orders of magnitude higher than that via the bremsstrahlung method.…”

“…The results from the bremsstrahlung method are also listed, where the results for 135 Cs are from Ref. [10], and those for 129 I, 126 Sn, 93 Zr, 107 Pd, 137 Cs and 90 Sr are obtained from the calculations with the same bremsstrahlung photon spectrum described in Ref. [10].…”

“…If a continuous CO 2 laser with the power of 10 4 W and higher is adopted at SLEGS in the future, the transmutation rate will achieve the order of 10 8 per second at least. The bremsstrahlung method can also improve its transmutation rate to this level, only if the laser intensity is increased to 10 21 W=cm 2 and simultaneously its repetition frequency is increased to 1 kHz [10].…”

“…Based on this method, some long-lived fission products such as 129 I, 99 Tc and 135 Cs have been investigated experimentally or theoretically [7][8][9][10].…”