Radiochemistry Division annual progress report: 1986

Research and Development (R and D) activities of the Radiochemistry Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay during 1986 are reported. Some of the highlights of these activities are solvent extraction studies on U(VI) and trivalent Am, Cm and Cf, low energy and medium energy fission of actinides, nuclear reactions on 197Au, perturbed angular correlation studies on polymerisation of Hf(IV) and EPR studies on Am doped BaCO3, SrSO4 and LiKSO4. Investigations on the complexation, hydrolysis and speciation of Am(III) in phosphate and carbonate media have been carried out with a view to understanding the behaviour of Am ions in natural and waste water systems. The angular momentum studies have shown that fission fragment angular momentum increases with increasing excitation energy and angular momentum of the fissioning due to coupling of various collective rotational degrees of freedom. Angular distribution studies have shown that asymmetric mode fragments have higher anisotropy compared to the symmetric mode fragments due to extended saddle point shape and hence larger effective moment of inertia. Studies on alpha induced nuclear reaction on 197Au have provided evidence for non-equilibrium particle emission process as against the expected compound nucleus mechanism. EPR and TSL studies on actinide doped solids have shown stabilisation of radicals produced on irradiations as well as provided evidence for chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization. At the end of the report, a list of publications of the staff members of the Division during the report is given. These publications include journal articles, conference paper and technical reports. (Orig.)