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Xenon-135 (135 Xe) is an unstable isotope of xenon with a half-life of about 9.2 hours. 135 Xe is a fission product of uranium and it is the most powerful known neutron -absorbing nuclear poison (2 million barns ; [ 1 ] up to 3 million barns [ 1 ] under reactor conditions [ 2 ] ), with a significant effect on nuclear reactor operation.
The RBMK tends towards dangerous power fluctuations. Control rods can become stuck if the reactor suddenly heats up and they are moving. Xenon-135, a neutron absorbent fission product, has a tendency to build up in the core and burn off unpredictably in the event of low power operation. This can lead to inaccurate neutronic and thermal power ...
The iodine pit, also called the iodine hole or xenon pit, is a temporary disabling of a nuclear reactor due to buildup of short-lived nuclear poisons in the reactor core. The main isotope responsible is 135 Xe, mainly produced by natural decay of 135 I. 135 I is a weak neutron absorber, while 135 Xe is the strongest known neutron absorber.
Xenon-135 in particular tremendously affects the operation of a nuclear reactor because it is the most powerful known neutron poison. The inability of a reactor to be restarted due to the buildup of xenon-135 (reaches a maximum after about 10 hours) is sometimes referred to as xenon precluded start-up .
Xenon-136 is an isotope of xenon that undergoes double beta decay to barium-136 with a very long half-life of 2.11 × 10 21 years, more than 10 orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe ((13.799 ± 0.021) × 10 9 years). It is being used in the Enriched Xenon Observatory experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay.
The effects of a nuclear explosion on its immediate vicinity are typically much more destructive and multifaceted than those caused by conventional explosives.In most cases, the energy released from a nuclear weapon detonated within the lower atmosphere can be approximately divided into four basic categories: [1]
Manhattan District The Trinity test of the Manhattan Project on 16 July 1945 was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. Active 1942–1946 Disbanded 15 August 1947 Country United States United Kingdom Canada Branch U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Garrison/HQ Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S. Anniversaries 13 August 1942 Engagements Allied invasion of Italy Allied invasion of France Allied invasion of ...
Xenon has been used as a general anesthetic, but it is more expensive than conventional anesthetics. [154] Xenon interacts with many different receptors and ion channels, and like many theoretically multi-modal inhalation anesthetics, these interactions are likely complementary. Xenon is a high-affinity glycine-site NMDA receptor antagonist. [155]