Uranium-232

Uranium-232 Full table
General
Name, symbol	U-232,^232U
Neutrons	140
Protons	92
Nuclide data
Half-life	68.9 years
Parent isotopes	^236Pu (α) ^232Np (β^+) ^232Pa (β^−)
Decay products	^228Th

Uranium-232 (232
92U
140, 232U, U-232) is an isotope of uranium. It has a half-life of 68.9 years and is a side product in the thorium cycle. It has been cited as an obstacle to nuclear proliferation using ²³³U as the fissile material, because the intense gamma radiation of ²³²U's decay products makes the ²³³U contaminated with it more difficult to handle.

Production of ²³³U (through the neutron irradiation of ²³²Th) invariably produces small amounts of ²³²U as an impurity, because of parasitic (n,2n) reactions on uranium-233 itself, or on protactinium-233, or on thorium-232:

²³²Th (n,γ) ²³³Th (β−) ²³³Pa (β−) ²³³U (n,2n) ²³²U

²³²Th (n,γ) ²³³Th (β−) ²³³Pa (n,2n) ²³²Pa (β−) ²³²U

²³²Th (n,2n) ²³¹Th (β−) ²³¹Pa (n,γ) ²³²Pa (β−) ²³²U

Another channel involves neutron capture reaction on small amounts of thorium-230, which is a tiny fraction of natural thorium present due to the decay of uranium-238:

²³⁰Th (n,γ) ²³¹Th (β−) ²³¹Pa (n,γ) ²³²Pa (β−) ²³²U

The decay chain of ²³²U quickly yields strong gamma radiation emitters:^[1]

²³²U (α, 68.9 years)

²²⁸Th (α, 1.9 year)

²²⁴Ra (α, 3.6 day, 0.24 MeV) (at this point, the decay chain is identical to that of ²³²Th)

²²⁰Rn (α, 55 s, 0.54 MeV)

²¹⁶Po (α, 0.15 s)

²¹²Pb (β−, 10.64 h)

²¹²Bi (α, 61 m, 0.78 MeV)

²⁰⁸Tl (β−, 3 m, 2.6 MeV) (35.94% branching ratio)

²⁰⁸Pb (stable)

This makes manual handling in a glove box with only light shielding (as commonly done with plutonium) too hazardous, (except possibly in a short period immediately following chemical separation of the uranium from thorium-228, radium-224, radon-220, and polonium) and instead requiring remote manipulation for fuel fabrication.

Unusually for an isotope with even mass number, ²³²U has a significant neutron absorption cross section for fission (thermal neutrons 75 barns (b), resonance integral 380 b) as well as for neutron capture (thermal 73 b, resonance integral 280 b).

References

1. Griffin, H. C. Natural Radioactive Decay Chains, Chapter 13 of Handbook of Nuclear Chemistry, Second Edition, Springer 2011, ISBN 978-1-4419-0719-6