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Method of exposing material to neutron flux, method of producing useful isotope comprising such exposing method and method of transmuting at least one long-lived isotope comprising such exposing method
Method of exposing material to neutron flux, method of producing useful isotope comprising such exposing method and method of transmuting at least one long-lived isotope comprising such exposing method
In the present invention, there is disclosed a method of exposing a material to a neutron flux, wherein said material is distributed in a neutron diffusing medium surrounding a neutron source, the diffusing medium being substantially transparent to neutrons and so arranged that neutron scattering within the diffusing medium substantially enhances the neutron flux, originating from the source, to which the material is exposed. There is also disclosed a method of producing a useful isotope, which comprises transforming a first isotope by exposing a material containing said first isotope to a neutron flux, wherein said material is distributed in a neutron diffusing medium surrounding a neutron source, the diffusing medium being substantially transparent to neutrons and so arranged that neutron scattering within the diffusing medium substantially enhances the neutron flux, originating from the source, to which the material is exposed, the method further comprising the step of recovering said useful isotope from the exposed material. Further disclosed is a method of transmuting at least one long-lived isotope of a radioactive waste, by exposing a material containing said long-lived isotope to a neutron flux, wherein said material is distributed in a neutron diffusing medium surrounding a neutron source, the diffusing medium being substantially transparent to neutrons and so arranged that neutron scattering within the diffusing medium substantially enhances the neutron flux, originating from the source, to which the material is exposed, and wherein at least the portion of the diffusing medium where the exposed material is distributed is made of heavy elements, so that multiple elastic neutron collisions result in a slowly decreasing energy of the neutrons originating from the source.
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