Iodine-129

Last updated
Iodine-129, 129I
General
Symbol 129I
Names iodine-129, 129I, I-129
Protons (Z)53
Neutrons (N)76
Nuclide data
Natural abundance Trace
Half-life (t1/2)1.614(12)×107 years [1]
Isotope mass 128.9049836(34) [2] Da
Decay products 129Xe
Decay modes
Decay mode Decay energy (MeV)
β− 0.189
Isotopes of iodine
Complete table of nuclides

Iodine-129 (129I) is a long-lived radioisotope of iodine that occurs naturally but is also of special interest in the monitoring and effects of man-made nuclear fission products, where it serves as both a tracer and a potential radiological contaminant.

Contents

Formation and decay

Long-lived fission products
Nuclide t1⁄2 Yield Q [a 1] βγ
(Ma)(%) [a 2] (keV)
99Tc 0.2116.1385294β
126Sn 0.2300.10844050 [a 3] βγ
79Se 0.3270.0447151β
135Cs 1.33 6.9110 [a 4] 269β
93Zr 1.53 5.457591βγ
107Pd 6.5  1.249933β
129I 16.14  0.8410194βγ
  1. ↑ Decay energy is split among β, neutrino, and γ if any.
  2. ↑ Per 65 thermal neutron fissions of 235U and 35 of 239Pu.
  3. ↑ Has decay energy 380 keV, but its decay product 126Sb has decay energy 3.67 MeV.
  4. ↑ Lower in thermal reactors because 135Xe, its predecessor, readily absorbs neutrons.

129I is one of seven long-lived fission products. It is primarily formed from the fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear reactors. Significant amounts were released into the atmosphere by nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s, by nuclear reactor accidents and by both military and civil reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. [3]

It is also naturally produced in small quantities, due to the spontaneous fission of natural uranium, by cosmic ray spallation of trace levels of xenon in the atmosphere, and by cosmic ray muons striking tellurium-130. [4] [5]

129I decays with a half-life of 16.14 million years, with low-energy beta and gamma emissions, to stable xenon-129 (129Xe). [6]

Long-lived fission product

129I is one of the seven long-lived fission products that are produced in significant amounts. Its yield is 0.706% per fission of 235U. [7] Larger proportions of other iodine isotopes such as 131I are produced, but because these all have short half-lives, iodine in cooled spent nuclear fuel consists of about 5/6 129I and 1/6 the only stable iodine isotope, 127I.

Because 129I is long-lived and relatively mobile in the environment, it is of particular importance in long-term management of spent nuclear fuel. In a deep geological repository for unreprocessed used fuel, 129I is likely to be the radionuclide of most potential impact at long times.

Since 129I has a modest neutron absorption cross-section of 30  barns, [8] and is relatively undiluted by other isotopes of the same element, it is being studied for disposal by nuclear transmutation by re-irradiation with neutrons [9] or gamma irradiation. [10]

Yield, % per fission [7]
Thermal Fast 14 MeV
232Th not fissile 0.431 ± 0.0891.68 ± 0.33
233U 1.63 ± 0.261.73 ± 0.243.01 ± 0.43
235U 0.706 ± 0.0321.03 ± 0.261.59 ± 0.18
238U not fissile 0.622 ± 0.0341.66 ± 0.19
239Pu 1.407 ± 0.0861.31 ± 0.13 ?
241Pu 1.28 ± 0.361.67 ± 0.36 ?

Release by nuclear fuel reprocessing

A large fraction of the 129I contained in spent fuel is released into the gas phase, when spent fuel is first chopped and then dissolved in boiling nitric acid during reprocessing. [3] At least for civil reprocessing plants, special scrubbers are supposed to withhold 99.5% (or more) of the Iodine by adsorption, [3] before exhaust air is released into the environment. However, the Northeastern Radiological Health Laboratory (NERHL) found, during their measurements at the first US civil reprocessing plant, which was operated by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) in Western New York, that "between 5 and 10% of the total 129I available from the dissolved fuel" was released into the exhaust stack. [3] They further wrote that "these values are greater than predicted output (Table 1). This was expected since the iodine scrubbers were not operating during the dissolution cycles monitored." [3]

Straight Line: I-129-deposits at Fiescherhorn glacier (Switzerland): dashed line: estimate of the I-129-deposit rate from the increase of the atmospheric Kr-85 concentration dot-dash: calculated bomb fallout triangles: from Cs-137 data calculated I-129 fallout circles: tree ring data Karlsruhe I129Fiescherhorn.jpg
Straight Line: I-129-deposits at Fiescherhorn glacier (Switzerland):
dashed line: estimate of the I-129-deposit rate from the increase of the atmospheric Kr-85 concentration
dot-dash: calculated bomb fallout
triangles: from Cs-137 data calculated I-129 fallout
circles: tree ring data Karlsruhe

The Northeastern Radiological Health Laboratory further states that, due to limitations of their measuring systems, the actual release of 129I may have even been higher, "since [129I] losses [by adsorption] probably occurred in the piping and ductwork between the stack and the sampler". [3] Furthermore, the sample taking system used by the NERHL had a bubbler trap for measuring the tritium content of the gas samples before the iodine trap. The NERHL found out only after taking the samples that "the bubbler trap retained 60 to 90% of the 129I sampled". [3] NERHL concluded: "The bubblers located upstream of the ion exchangers removed a major portion of the gaseous 129I before it reached the ion exchange sampler. The iodine removal ability of the bubbler was anticipated, but not in the magnitude that it occurred." The documented release of "between 5 and 10% of the total 129I available from the dissolved fuel" [3] is not corrected for those two measurement deficiencies.

Military isolation of plutonium from spent fuel has also released 129I to the atmosphere: "More than 685,000 curies of iodine 131 spewed from the stacks of Hanford's separation plants in the first three years of operation." [11] As 129I and 131I have very similar physical and chemical properties, and no isotope separation was performed at Hanford, 129I must have also been released there in large quantities during the Manhattan project. As Hanford reprocessed "hot" fuel, that had been irradiated in a reactor only a few months earlier, the activity of the released short-lived 131I, with a half-life time of just 8 days, was much higher than that of the long-lived 129I. However, while all of the 131I released during the times of the Manhattan project has decayed by now, over 99.999% of the 129I is still in the environment.

Ice borehole data obtained from the university of Bern at the Fiescherhorn glacier in the Alpian mountains at a height of 3950 m show a somewhat steady increase in the 129I deposit rate (shown in the image as a solid line) with time. In particular, the highest values obtained in 1983 and 1984 are about six times as high as the maximum that was measured during the period of the atmospheric bomb testing in 1961. This strong increase following the conclusion of the atmospheric bomb testing indicates that nuclear fuel reprocessing has been the primary source of atmospheric iodine-129 since then. These measurements lasted until 1986. [12]

Applications

Groundwater age dating

129I is not deliberately produced for any practical purposes. However, its long half-life and its relative mobility in the environment have made it useful for a variety of dating applications. These include identifying older groundwaters based on the amount of natural 129I (or its 129Xe decay product) present, as well as identifying younger groundwaters by the increased anthropogenic 129I levels since the 1960s. [13] [14] [15]

Meteorite age dating

In 1960, physicist John H. Reynolds discovered that certain meteorites contained an isotopic anomaly in the form of an overabundance of 129Xe. He inferred that this must be a decay product of long-decayed radioactive 129I. This isotope is produced in quantity in nature only in supernova explosions. As the half-life of 129I is comparatively short in astronomical terms, this demonstrated that only a short time had passed between the supernova and the time the meteorites had solidified and trapped the 129I. These two events (supernova and solidification of gas cloud) were inferred to have happened during the early history of the Solar System, as the 129I isotope was likely generated before the Solar System was formed, but not long before, and seeded the solar gas cloud isotopes with isotopes from a second source. This supernova source may also have caused collapse of the solar gas cloud. [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xenon</span> Chemical element with atomic number 54 (Xe)

Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the formation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate, the first noble gas compound to be synthesized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear chemistry</span> Branch of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, transmutation and other nuclear processes

Nuclear chemistry is the sub-field of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes, and transformations in the nuclei of atoms, such as nuclear transmutation and nuclear properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear fission product</span> Atoms or particles produced by nuclear fission

Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus undergoes nuclear fission. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons, the release of heat energy, and gamma rays. The two smaller nuclei are the fission products..

The synthesis of precious metals involves the use of either nuclear reactors or particle accelerators to produce these elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iodine-131</span> Isotope of iodine

Iodine-131 is an important radioisotope of iodine discovered by Glenn Seaborg and John Livingood in 1938 at the University of California, Berkeley. It has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days. It is associated with nuclear energy, medical diagnostic and treatment procedures, and natural gas production. It also plays a major role as a radioactive isotope present in nuclear fission products, and was a significant contributor to the health hazards from open-air atomic bomb testing in the 1950s, and from the Chernobyl disaster, as well as being a large fraction of the contamination hazard in the first weeks in the Fukushima nuclear crisis. This is because 131I is a major fission product of uranium and plutonium, comprising nearly 3% of the total products of fission. See fission product yield for a comparison with other radioactive fission products. 131I is also a major fission product of uranium-233, produced from thorium.

Naturally occurring xenon (54Xe) consists of seven stable isotopes and two very long-lived isotopes. Double electron capture has been observed in 124Xe and double beta decay in 136Xe, which are among the longest measured half-lives of all nuclides. The isotopes 126Xe and 134Xe are also predicted to undergo double beta decay, but this process has never been observed in these isotopes, so they are considered to be stable. Beyond these stable forms, 32 artificial unstable isotopes and various isomers have been studied, the longest-lived of which is 127Xe with a half-life of 36.345 days. All other isotopes have half-lives less than 12 days, most less than 20 hours. The shortest-lived isotope, 108Xe, has a half-life of 58 μs, and is the heaviest known nuclide with equal numbers of protons and neutrons. Of known isomers, the longest-lived is 131mXe with a half-life of 11.934 days. 129Xe is produced by beta decay of 129I ; 131mXe, 133Xe, 133mXe, and 135Xe are some of the fission products of both 235U and 239Pu, so are used as indicators of nuclear explosions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isotopes of iodine</span>

There are 40 known isotopes of iodine (53I) from 108I to 147I; all undergo radioactive decay except 127I, which is stable. Iodine is thus a monoisotopic element.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spent nuclear fuel</span> Nuclear fuel thats been irradiated in a nuclear reactor

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technetium-99</span> Radioactive isotope produced by fission of uranium

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References

  1. ↑ Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae.
  2. ↑ Wang, Meng; Huang, W.J.; Kondev, F.G.; Audi, G.; Naimi, S. (2021). "The AME 2020 atomic mass evaluation (II). Tables, graphs and references". Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030003. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddaf.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "An INVESTIGATION of AIRBORNE RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENT from an OPERATING NUCLEAR FUEL REPROCESSING PLANT".
  4. ↑ Edwards, R. R. (1962). "Iodine-129: Its Occurrenice in Nature and Its Utility as a Tracer". Science. 137 (3533): 851–853. Bibcode:1962Sci...137..851E. doi:10.1126/science.137.3533.851. PMID   13889314. S2CID   38276819.
  5. ↑ "Radioactives Missing From The Earth".[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat3/decaysearchdirect.jsp?nuc=129I&unc=nds, NNDC Chart of Nuclides, I-129 Decay Radiation, accessed 7 May 2021.
  7. 1 2 http://www-nds.iaea.org/sgnucdat/c3.htm Cumulative Fission Yields, IAEA
  8. ↑ http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reColor.jsp?newColor=sigg Archived 2017-01-24 at the Wayback Machine , NNDC Chart of Nuclides, I-129 Thermal neutron capture cross-section, accessed 16-Dec-2012.
  9. ↑ Rawlins, J. A.; et al. (1992). "Partitioning and transmutation of long-lived fission products". Proceedings International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference. Las Vegas, USA. OSTI   5788189.
  10. ↑ Magill, J.; Schwoerer, H.; Ewald, F.; Galy, J.; Schenkel, R.; Sauerbrey, R. (2003). "Laser transmutation of iodine-129". Applied Physics B. 77 (4): 387–390. Bibcode:2003ApPhB..77..387M. doi:10.1007/s00340-003-1306-4. S2CID   121743855.
  11. ↑ Grossman, Daniel (1 January 1994). "Hanford and Its Early Radioactive Atmospheric Releases". The Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 85 (1): 6–14. doi:10.2307/3571805. JSTOR   40491426. PMID   4157487.
  12. ↑ F. Stampfli: Ionenchromatographische Analysen an Eisproben aus einem hochgelegenen Alpengletscher. Lizentiatsarbeit, Inst. anorg. anal. und phys. Chemie, Universität Bern, 1989.
  13. ↑ Watson, J. Throck; Roe, David K.; Selenkow, Herbert A. (1 January 1965). "Iodine-129 as a "Nonradioactive" Tracer". Radiation Research. 26 (1): 159–163. Bibcode:1965RadR...26..159W. doi:10.2307/3571805. JSTOR   3571805. PMID   4157487.
  14. ↑ Santschi, P.; et al. (1998). "129Iodine: A new tracer for surface water/groundwater interaction" (PDF). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. OSTI   7280.
  15. ↑ Snyder, G.; Fabryka-Martin, J. (2007). "I-129 and Cl-36 in dilute hydrocarbon waters: Marine-cosmogenic, in situ, and anthropogenic sources". Applied Geochemistry. 22 (3): 692–714. Bibcode:2007ApGC...22..692S. doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2006.12.011.
  16. ↑ Clayton, Donald D. (1983). Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp.  75. ISBN   978-0226109534.
  17. ↑ Bolt, B. A.; Packard, R. E.; Price, P. B. (2007). "John H. Reynolds, Physics: Berkeley". The University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2007-10-01.

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