Neptunium

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Neptunium is a synthetic element in the periodic table that has the symbol Np and atomic number 93. A silvery radioactive metallic element, neptunium is the first transuranic element and belongs to the actinide series. Its most stable isotope, ²³⁷Np, is a by-product of nuclear reactors and plutonium production and it can be used as a component in neutron detection equipment. Neptunium is also found in trace amounts in uranium ores.

Contents

1 Notable characteristics
2 History
3 Occurrence
4 Nuclear synthesis
5 Isotopes
6 Uses

6.1 Precursor in Plutonium-238 Production
6.2 Weapons applications

7 References
8 External links

Notable characteristics

Silvery in appearance, neptunium metal is fairly chemically reactive and is found in at least three structural modifications:

alpha-neptunium, orthorhombic, density 20.25 Mg/m³,
beta-neptunium (above 280 °C), tetragonal, density (313 °C) 19.36 Mg/m³, and
gamma-neptunium (above 577 °C), cubic, density (600 °C) 18 Mg/m³.

This element has four ionic oxidation states while in solution:

Np⁺³ (pale purple), analogous to the rare earth ion Pm⁺³,
Np⁺⁴ (yellow green);
NpO₂⁺ (green blue): and
NpO₂⁺⁺ (pale pink).

Neptunium forms tri- and tetrahalides such as NpF₃, NpF₄, NpCl₄, NpBr₃, NpI₃, and oxides of the various compositions such as are found in the uranium-oxygen system, including Np₃O₈ and NpO₂.

Neptunium like other actinides readily forms a dioxide neptunyl core (NpO₂). In the environment, this neptunyl core readily complexes with carbonate as well as other oxygen moeities (OH^-, NO₂^-, NO₃^-, and SO₄^-2) to form charged complexes which tend to be readily mobile with low affinities to soil.

NpO₂(OH)₂^-1
NpO₂(CO₃)^-1
NpO₂(CO₃)₂^-3
NpO₂(CO₃)₃^-5

Please also see Actinides in the environment

History

Neptunium (named for the planet Neptune) was first discovered by Edwin McMillan and Philip Abelson in 1940. Initially predicted by Walter Russell's "spiral" organization of the periodic table, it was found at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley where the team produced the neptunium isotope ²³⁹Np (2.4 day half-life) by bombarding uranium with slow moving neutrons. It was the first transuranium element produced synthetically and the first actinide series transuranium element discovered.

Occurrence

Trace amounts of neptunium are found naturally as decay products from transmutation reactions in uranium ores. ²³⁷Np is produced through the reduction of ²³⁷NpF₃ with barium or lithium vapor at around 1200 °C and is most often extracted from spent nuclear fuel rods as a by-product in plutonium production.

Nuclear synthesis

When an ²³⁵U atom captures a neutron, it is converted to an excited state of ²³⁶U. Some of the excited ²³⁶U nuclei undergo fission, but some decay to the ground state of ²³⁶U by emitting gamma radiation. Further neutron capture creates ²³⁷U which has a half-life of 7 days and thus quickly decays to ²³⁷Np. Since nearly all neptunium is produced in this way or consists of isotopes which decay quickly, one gets nearly pure ²³⁷Np by chemical separation of neptunium.

Isotopes

19 neptunium radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being ²³⁷Np with a half-life of 2.14 million years, ²³⁶Np with a half-life of 154,000 years, and ²³⁵Np with a half-life of 396.1 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lifes that are less than 4.5 days, and the majority of these have half lifes that are less than 50 minutes. This element also has 4 meta states, with the most stable being ^236mNp (t_½ 22.5 hours).

The isotopes of neptunium range in atomic weight from 225.0339 u (²²⁵Np) to 244.068 u (²⁴⁴Np). The primary decay mode before the most stable isotope, ²³⁷Np, is electron capture (with a good deal of alpha emission), and the primary mode after is beta emission. The primary decay products before ²³⁷Np are element 92 (uranium) isotopes (alpha emission produces element 91, protactinium, however) and the primary products after are element 94 (plutonium) isotopes.

²³⁷Np eventually decays to form bismuth, unlike most other common heavy nuclei which decay to make lead.

Uses

Precursor in Plutonium-238 Production

²³⁷Np is irradiated with neutrons to create ²³⁸Pu, a rare and valuable isotope for spacecraft and military applications.

Weapons applications

Neptunium is fissionable, and could theoretically be used as reactor fuel or to create a nuclear weapon. It is not believed that an actual weapon has ever been constructed using Neptunium.

In September, 2002, researchers at the University of California Los Alamos National Laboratory created the first known nuclear critical mass using neptunium in combination with enriched uranium, discovering that the critical mass of neptunium is less than previously predicted. [link]. US officials in March, 2004, planned to move the nation's supply of enriched neptunium to a site in Nevada.

References

[Los Alamos National Laboratory's Chemistry Division: Periodic Table - Neptunium]
Guide to the Elements - Revised Edition, Albert Stwertka, (Oxford University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-19-508083-1

External links

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Look up in
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[WebElements.com - Neptunium] (also used as a reference)
[Lab builds world's first neptunium sphere], U.S. Department of Energy Research News

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