Possibility of ultra-intense laser transmutation of ~(93)Zr (γ, n) ~(92)Zr a long-lived nuclear waste into a stable isotope

摘要

The possibility of photonuclear transmutation of ~(93)Zr, a highly radioactive nuclear waste with a half-life of 1.53 million years, into ~(92)Zr its stable isotope, through a (γ, n) reaction has been analytically evaluated in this paper. By focusing Intensities more than 10~(20) W/cm~2 onto a solid target, high energy electron generation, Bremsstrahlung and photonuclear reactions have been observed. Using the available data, the number of reactions that produced ~(92)Zr, have been analytically calculated. In addition, this work has shown that the laser intensity, irradiation time and repetition rate of laser have strong and direct effects on the yield of ~(92)Zr and the number of reactions. Irradiating a ~(93)Zr sample by a laser with the intensity of 10~(21) W/cm~2 and 5 × 10~(21) W/cm~2, and the repetition rate of 10 Hz for an hour, the number of reactions obtained are, 1.44 × 10~6 and 4.38 × 10~7, respectively. Finally, we evaluate the optimal intensity of laser to produce the maximum number of reactions. However, beyond the optimal intensity, this effect is very slow.