{"id":18603,"date":"2018-09-10T15:07:09","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T15:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sitepourvtc.com\/?page_id=18603"},"modified":"2023-02-07T09:20:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T09:20:15","slug":"xenon-135","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sitepourvtc.com\/nuclear-power\/reactor-physics\/reactor-operation\/xenon-135\/","title":{"rendered":"Xenon 135"},"content":{"rendered":"
Xenon<\/strong> is a naturally-occurring chemical element with atomic number 54, which means there are 54 protons and 54 electrons in the atomic structure. The chemical symbol for xenon is Xe<\/strong>. Xenon<\/strong> is a colorless, dense, odorless noble gas found in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere in trace amounts.<\/p>\n Xenon<\/strong> was first discovered in 1898 by the Scottish chemist William Ramsay and English chemist Morris Travers. The name xenon for this gas comes from the Greek word \u03be\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd [xenon], neuter singular form of \u03be\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 [xenos], meaning ‘foreign(er)’, ‘strange(r)’, or ‘guest’.<\/p>\n Natural xenon consists of eight stable isotopes<\/strong>, 124<\/sup>Xe (0.095%), 126<\/sup>Xe (0.089%), 128<\/sup>Xe (1.91%), 129<\/sup>Xe (26.4%), 130<\/sup>Xe (4.07%), 131<\/sup>Xe (21.23%), 132<\/sup>Xe (26.91%), \u00a0134<\/sup>Xe (10.44%), and one isotope with very long half-life 136<\/sup>Xe (8.86%).<\/p>\n In the nuclear industry, especially artificial xenon 135<\/strong> has a tremendous impact on the operation of a nuclear reactor<\/a>. It is important for physicists and reactor operators to understand the mechanisms that produce and remove xenon from the reactor to predict how the reactor will respond following changes in power level.<\/p>\n Another important isotope is xenon 133<\/strong>, which has a half-life of 5.2 days, and its presence in a reactor coolant indicates (together with xenon 135) a possible failure of fuel cladding. A new defect will often result in a step increase in only the Xe-133 activity measured from reactor coolant. As the defect enlarges, the release rate of the soluble, longer-lived nuclides, particularly I-131, I-134, Cs-134, and Cs-137, will increase.<\/p>\nXenon 135<\/h2>\n