In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission. By definition, fissile materials can sustain a chain reaction with neutrons of any energy. The predominant neutron energy may be typified by either slow neutrons (i.e. a thermal system) or fast neutrons. Fissile materials can be used to fuel thermal reactors, with a neutron moderator; fast-neutron reactors, with no moderators; and nuclear explosives.
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According to the fissile rule, heavy isotopes with 90 ≤ Z ≤ 100 and 2 × Z – N = 43 ± 2, with few exceptions, are fissile (where N = number of neutrons and Z = number of protons).[1]
"Fissile" is distinct from "fissionable." A nuclide capable of undergoing fission after capturing a neutron is referred to as "fissionable." A fissionable nuclide that can be induced to fission with low energy thermal neutrons is referred to as "fissile." Although the terms were formerly synonymous, fissionable materials include also those (such as uranium-238) that can be fissioned only with high-energy neutrons. As a result, fissile materials (such as uranium-235) are a subset of fissionable materials.
Uranium-235 fissions with low-energy thermal neutrons because the binding energy resulting from the absorption of a neutron is greater than the critical energy required for fission; therefore uranium-235 is a fissile material. By contrast, the binding energy released by uranium-238 absorbing a thermal neutron is less than the critical energy, so the neutron must possess additional energy for fission to be possible. Consequently, uranium-238 is a fissionable material but not a fissile material. [2]
An alternative definition defines fissile nuclides as those nuclides that can be made to undergo nuclear fission (i.e., are fissionable) and also produce neutrons from such fission that can sustain a nuclear chain reaction in the correct setting. Under this definition, nuclides that are only fissionable are those nuclides that can be made to undergo nuclear fission but produce insufficient neutrons, in either energy or number, to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.[3] As such, while all fissile isotopes are fissionable, not all fissionable isotopes are fissile. In the arms control context, particularly in proposals for a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, the term "fissile" is often used to describe materials that can be used in the fission primary of a nuclear weapon.[4] These are materials that sustain an explosive fast fission chain reaction.
Under all definitions above, uranium-238 (U-238) is fissionable, but because it cannot sustain a neutron chain reaction, it is not fissile. Neutrons produced by fission of U-238 inevitably inelastically scatter to an energy below 1 MeV (i.e., a speed of about 14,000 km/s), the fission threshold to cause subsequent fission of U-238, so fission of U-238 does not sustain a nuclear chain reaction.
Fast fission of U-238 in the secondary stage of a nuclear weapon contributes greatly to yield and to fallout. The fast fission of U-238 also makes a significant contribution to the power output of some fast-neutron reactors.
| Actinides | Half-life | Fission products | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 244Cm | 241Pu f | 250Cf | 243Cmf | 10–30 y | 137Cs | 90Sr | 85Kr | |
| 232U f | 238Pu | f is for fissile |
69–90 y | 151Sm nc➔ | ||||
| 4n | 249Cf f | 242Amf | 141–351 | No fission product has half-life 102 to 2×105 years |
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| 241Am | 251Cf f | 431–898 | ||||||
| 240Pu | 229Th | 246Cm | 243Am | 5–7 ky | ||||
| 4n | 245Cmf | 250Cm | 239Pu f | 8–24 ky | ||||
| 233U f | 230Th | 231Pa | 32–160 | |||||
| 4n+1 | 234U | 4n+3 | 211–290 | 99Tc | 126Sn | 79Se | ||
| 248Cm | 242Pu | 340–373 | Long-lived fission products | |||||
| 237Np | 4n+2 | 1–2 My | 93Zr | 135Cs nc➔ | ||||
| 236U | 4n+1 | 247Cmf | 6–23 My | 107Pd | 129I | |||
| 244Pu | 80 My | >7% | >5% | >1% | >.1% | |||
| 232Th | 238U | 235U f | 0.7–12 Gy | fission product yield | ||||
In general, most actinide isotopes with an odd neutron number are fissile. Most nuclear fuels have an odd atomic mass number (A = the total number of protons and neutrons), and an even atomic number (Z = the number of protons). This implies an odd number of neutrons. Isotopes with an odd number of neutrons gain an extra 1 to 2 MeV of energy from absorbing an extra neutron, from the pairing effect which favors even numbers of both neutrons and protons. This energy is enough to supply the needed extra energy for fission by slower neutrons, which is important for making fissionable isotopes also fissile.
More generally, elements with an even number of protons and an even number of neutrons, and located near a well-known curve in nuclear physics of atomic number vs. atomic mass number are more stable than others; hence, they are less likely to undergo fission. They are more likely to "ignore" the neutron and let it go on its way, or else to absorb the neutron but without gaining enough energy from the process to deform the nucleus enough for it to fission. These "even-even" isotopes are also less likely to undergo spontaneous fission, and they also have relatively much longer half-lives for alpha or beta decay. Examples of these elements are uranium-238 and thorium-232. On the other hand, isotopes with an odd number of neutrons and even number of protons (even Z, odd N) are short-lived because they readily decay by beta-particle emission to an isotope with an even number of neutrons and an even number of protons (even Z, even N) becoming much more stable. The physical basis for this phenomenon also comes from the pairing effect in nuclear binding energy, but this time from both proton-proton and neutron-neutron pairing. The short half-life of such odd-odd heavy isotopes means that they are not available in quantity and are highly radioactive.
To be a useful fuel for nuclear fission chain reactions, the material must:
| Thermal neutrons | Epithermal neutrons | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| σF | σγ | % | σF | σγ | % | |
| 531 | 46 | 8.0% | 233U | 760 | 140 | 16% |
| 585 | 99 | 14.5% | 235U | 275 | 140 | 34% |
| 750 | 271 | 26.5% | 239Pu | 300 | 200 | 40% |
| 1010 | 361 | 26.3% | 241Pu | 570 | 160 | 22% |
Fissile nuclides in nuclear fuels include:
Fissile nuclides do not have a 100% chance of undergoing fission on absorption of a neutron. The chance is dependent on the nuclide as well as neutron energy. For low and medium-energy neutrons, the neutron capture cross sections for fission (σF), the cross section for neutron capture with emission of a gamma ray (σγ), and the percentage of non-fissions are in the table at right.
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