Cumulative yields of stable and long-lived isotopes of tin in neutron-induced fission

Abstract

The relative cumulative fission yields of the six stable isotopes of tin (117Sn,118Sn, 119Sn, 120Sn, 122Sn, and 124Sn) and the long-lived isotope 126Sn have been measured in the thermal and epicadium neutron fission of 233U and 235U, and the epicadium neutron fission of 238U. Nanogram-sized fission product tin samples were extracted from irradiated uranium samples and analyzed in a solid source mass spectrometer. In each case a smooth curve can be drawn through the yield points of the seven isotopes of tin. There is, therefore, no evidence of "fine structure" in the 117 ≤ A ≤ 126 portion of the symmetric mass region.