New | Creation of 'lightest uranium isotopes ever' in China could lead to clean nuclear power

Chinese scientists have created the lightest uranium isotopes ever, a development that could lead to cleaner and safer nuclear power.

Uranium-238, the most abundant isotope of the radioactive element in nature, has 92 protons and 146 neutrons in its nucleus. Reduce the neutrons by three and you get U-235, the most important fissile material for nuclear reactors and weapons.

Trimming the neutrons down much further was "impossible in the past", according to Gan Zaoguo of the Centre for Nuclear Matter Science at the Institute of Modern Physics in Lanzhou.

Gan's team was able to reduce the number of neutrons in the isotope by up to 20, obtaining for the first time U-216 and U-215.

The extra-light uranium isotopes are so volatile that their existence only lasts around one thousandth of a second, meaning they could not be directly used to fuel nuclear power plants or in the creation of atomic bombs.

By creating and studying the nature of the trimmed isotopes, scientists may be able to solve key mysteries of nuclear physics and greatly improve our ability to exploit atomic power, Gan said.

While nuclear weapons and power plants have been around for decades, their performance has been judged lacking by many scientists.