PHYS3C24 – Problem Paper 5

Solutions to be handed in on Monday 26 April 2004

Q1. Assume that in the shell model the nucleon energy levels are ordered

1s, 1p3/ 2 ,1p1/ 2 ,1d5/ 2 ,.....

Write down the shell model configuration of the nucleus 37Li and hence find its spin,
parity and magnetic moment (in nuclear magnetons). Give the two most likely
configurations for the first excited state, assuming that only protons are excited. In each
case explain the reasons fro your choice.

Q2. Give an example of evidence that nucleons within nuclei have an energy level
structure. The energy level diagram for the first four levels assuming the potential is a
simple harmonic oscillator of frequency w (ie the energy levels are (n + 12 )hw are:

2p, 1f

2s, 1d
1p
1s

Explain the notation and work out the number of nucleons that can be accommodated
in each level. What interaction must be added to the Hamiltonian to modify the
energy level structure to recover the correct magic number sequence?
235
Q3. The fission of U is induced by a neutron and the fission fragments are
92 140
37 Rb and 55Cs . Use the SEMF to calculate the energy released (in MeV) per fission.
Ignore the (negligible) contributions for the pairing term. This fission reaction is used to
power a 100 MW nuclear reactor whose core is a sphere of radius 100 cm. If an average
of 1 neutron per fission escapes the core, what is the neutron flux at the outer surface of
the reactor in s m ? The spherical core is surrounded by 1.3m3 of ideal gas maintained
-1 -2

at a pressure of 1x105 Pa and a temperature of 298 K. All neutrons escaping the reactor
core pass through the gas. If the interact ion cross-section between the neutrons and the
gas is 1 mb, calculate the rate of neutron interactions in the gas.

Q4. In a particular thermal reactor, each fission releases power like 2.66 t -1.2 and
the energy released per fission is 190 MeV. After burning with a steady power output
P0 for a time T, the reactor is shutdown. Show that the mean thermal power P from a
fuel rod of the reactor after time t (> 1s) is approximately
†
P(t) = 0.07P0 [t -0.2 - (T + t) -0.2 ]

Before the accident that led to its emergency shutdown, the Chernobyl reactor was
producing about 3 GW of heat. Taking the mean age of the fuel rods to be 1 year,
estimate the power output from the core after one week and one year.