Thorium. Suppl. Vol. A2

The present volume ''Thorium'' Suppl. Vol. A2 of the Gmelin Handbook covers the history of thorium and the preparation of its scientifically and technologically important isotopes, as well as the nuclear properties (including fission properties) of all its isotopes. The thorium isotopes range from 212Th to 236Th. The different types of production of all of these isotopes have been described and, in the following chapter, the decay data and fission characteristics. On the other hand, chemical isolation procedures have been outlined only for the more important isotopes 227Th to 234Th. Special emphasis, however, was devoted to 232Th, the only naturally occurring very long-lived isotope. Despite some other applications the specific importance of 232Th comes from the fact that its neutron capture reaction product 233U is a fissile nuclide, which makes 232Th an important isotope in nuclear technology, especially for the so-called ''Thorium High Temperature Reactor'' (THTR). The other longer-lived isotopes are either used in the laboratory for tracer studies (e.g. 234Th) or for the production of nuclides for isotope batteries (e.g. 230Th), whereas 233Th is the nuclide measured for the neutron activation determination of thorium. In the chapters for the isolation and purification of thorium isotopes only those extraction and other separation procedures were mentioned which are relevant to the given process. Detailed information on these topics has been given in specific volumes of this Handbook, e.g. Volume D2 for ''Extraction of Thorium''. The literature is covered to the end of 1984. In some cases, more recent data have been considered. (orig./RB)