• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds


 










Synthetic material from ORNL used in discovery of new elements 115, 117

Posted at 10:41 pm January 6, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

ORNL Berkelium-249

Berkelium-249, contained in the greenish fluid in the tip of the vial, was crucial to the experiment that discovered element 117. It was made in the research reactor at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Twenty-two milligrams of a very pure synthetic material produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were used in the discovery of two new chemical elements that will help fill out the seventh row of the periodic table.

The synthetic element, berkelium-249, was produced in a project that started with a six-month irradiation of a target material at the High Flux Isotope Reactor at ORNL. The resulting product was separated and processed during a three-month period at the lab’s Radiochemical Engineering Development Center.

The berkelium-249 was then shipped to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, or JINR, in Dubna, Russia, where it was intensely bombarded, or irradiated, with calcium-48 ions, creating six atoms of element 117, said Jim Roberto, ORNL associate lab director for science and technology partnerships. Berkelium-249, which does not exist in nature, has a 300-day lifetime, so researchers had a short time to do their experiments.

Element 117 is one of four new elements that have been officially verified by the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry. The IUPAC announced the discoveries on December 30. The other three are elements 113, 115, and 118. Element 115 is produced when element 117 decays. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: berkelium-249, californium-252, chemical elements, element 113, element 115, element 117, element 118, element 61, Glenn Seaborg, Graphite Reactor, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, High Flux Isotope Reactor, International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry, IUPAC, Jim Roberto, JINR, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, neutrons, new elements, nuclei, nucleus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, periodic table, promethium, protons, Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, RIKEN, thermal neutron flux, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, UT, Vanderbilt University

Search Oak Ridge Today

Recent Posts

  • Obituary: Verner Anderson
  • Close to 100 Entries Registered for Parade
  • Karen’s Jewelers has open house today
  • Power outages planned in west Oak Ridge on Saturday
  • O’Kegley, Santa to conduct Oak Ridge Chorus on Saturday
  • Christmas Tree Lighting is Friday in Oak Ridge
  • Leadership Oak Ridge provides outdoor seating area at AMSE
  • Call center relocates to Oak Ridge
  • Celebrate—or take a break from—the holidays with Dine and Donate!
  • Winter Farmers’ Market opens Saturday

Classifieds

Office space for rent

Office space for rental by the hour. Includes wifi, use of copier/fax, kitchen, and conference room. … [Read More...]

Public meetings: HOME program repairs

… [Read More...]

Public Notice: ORHA Advertisement for Bids

Sealed bids for “Roof Replacement at Knoll Lane and Wade Lane, Oak Ridge, Tennessee” will be … [Read More...]

A Twitter List by OakRidgeToday

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

Archives

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2019 Oak Ridge Today