Latest development of nuclear track study in China Institute of Atomic Energy

Abstract

New progress has been made in China Institute of Atomic Energy in the study of nuclear tracks in solids. Bubble damage detector has been made, which is suitable to detect fast neutrons. A study of fast neutron emission from relativistic heavy ion interactions with a new technique—CR-39 detector stack has shown that large number of fast neutrons are produced in the interactions. A new approach of uranium exploration - fission track method - has been established and tested in large area and a uranium ore was discovered in south China by this method. Fission track dating has been further applied to the study of the duration of Peking Man Site and the age determination of gold mine and thermal history of Qinling Mountains in China. Multi-fragment sequential fission has been studied with 14.2 MeV 238U + natU heavy ion reactions with mica track detectors in 2π-geometry. Some equipments for production of nuclear track membrane at the Tandem accelerator and Heavy Water Research Reactor have been built and some basic researches on applications of nuclear track membrane (NTM) have been carried out. New insights have been gained into the properties of the membrane, such as, the discovery of the ability of NTM to determine solute concentrations in various solutions, the analytic expressions of blocking phenomenon of NTM by suspended micro solid particles, the quantitative determination of the efficiencies of various bacteria removal by NTM, and the systematic knowledges of basic rules on NTM for liquid substances.