Isotopes of protactinium

Actinides and fission products by half-life
Actinides[1] by decay chain				Half-life range (y)	Fission products of ^235U by yield[2]
4n	4n+1	4n+2	4n+3
						4.5–7%	0.04–1.25%	<0.001%
^228Ra^№				4–6	†		^155Eu^þ
^244Cm^ƒ	^241Pu^ƒ	^250Cf	^227Ac^№	10–29		^90Sr	^85Kr	^113mCd^þ
^232U^ƒ		^238Pu^ƒ№	^243Cm^ƒ	29–97		^137Cs	^151Sm^þ	^121mSn
^248Bk[3]	^249Cf^ƒ	^242mAm^ƒ		141–351	No fission products have a half-life in the range of 100–210 k years ...
	^241Am^ƒ		^251Cf^ƒ[4]	430–900
		^226Ra^№	^247Bk	1.3 k – 1.6 k
^240Pu^ƒ№	^229Th^№	^246Cm^ƒ	^243Am^ƒ	4.7 k – 7.4 k
	^245Cm^ƒ	^250Cm		8.3 k – 8.5 k
			^239Pu^ƒ№	24.1 k
		^230Th^№	^231Pa^№	32 k – 76 k
^236Np^ƒ	^233U^ƒ№	^234U^№		150 k – 250 k	‡	^99Tc^₡	^126Sn
^248Cm		^242Pu^ƒ		327 k – 375 k			^79Se^₡
				1.53 M		^93Zr
	^237Np^ƒ№			2.1 M – 6.5 M		^135Cs^₡	^107Pd
^236U^№			^247Cm^ƒ	15 M – 24 M			^129I^₡
^244Pu^№				80 M	... nor beyond 15.7 M years[5]
^232Th^№		^238U^№	^235U^ƒ№	0.7 G – 14.1 G
Legend for superscript symbols ₡  has thermal neutron capture cross section in the range of 8–50 barns ƒ  fissile m  metastable isomer №  naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) þ  neutron poison (thermal neutron capture cross section greater than 3k barns) †  range 4–97 y: Medium-lived fission product ‡  over 200,000 y: Long-lived fission product

Protactinium (Pa) has no stable isotopes. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, allowing a standard mass to be given.

Relative atomic mass: 231.03588(2).

Twenty-nine radioisotopes of protactinium have been characterized, with the most stable being ²³¹Pa with a half-life of 32,760 years, ²³³Pa with a half-life of 26.967 days, and ²³⁰Pa with a half-life of 17.4 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 1.6 days, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 1.8 seconds. This element also has 3 meta states, ^217mPa (t_1/2 1.15 milliseconds), ^229mPa (t_1/2 420 nanoseconds), and ^234mPa (t_1/2 1.17 minutes).

The only naturally occurring isotopes are ²³¹Pa, which occurs as an intermediate decay product of ²³⁵U, ²³⁴Pa and ^234mPa, both of which occur as intermediate decay products of ²³⁸U. ²³¹Pa makes up nearly all natural protactinium.

The primary decay mode for isotopes of Pa lighter than (and including) the most stable isotope ²³¹Pa is alpha decay, except for ²²⁸Pa to ²³⁰Pa, which primarily decay by electron capture to isotopes of thorium. The primary mode for the heavier isotopes is beta minus (β⁻) decay. The primary decay products of ²³¹Pa and isotopes of protactinium lighter than and including ²²⁷Pa are isotopes of actinium and the primary decay products for the heavier isotopes of protactinium are isotopes of uranium.

Protactinium-230

Protactinium-230 has 139 neutrons and a half-life of 17.4 days. It undergoes beta-minus decay to ²³⁰U. It is not found in nature because its half-life is so short and it is not found in the decay chains of ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U, or ²³²Th. It has a mass of 230.034541 u.

Protactinium-231

Transmutation in the thorium fuel cycle

^230Th

→

^231Th

←

^232Th

→

^233Th

(White actinides: t½<27d)

↓

↓

^231Pa

→

^232Pa

←

^233Pa

→

^234Pa

(Colored : t½>68y)

↑

↓

↓

↓

^231U

←

^232U

↔

^233U

↔

^234U

↔

^235U

↔

^236U

→

^237U

↓

↓

↓

↓

(Fission products with t½<90y or t½>200ky)

^237Np

Protactinium-231 is the longest-lived isotope of protactinium, with a half-life of 32,760 years. In nature, it is found in trace amounts as part of the actinium series, which starts with the primordial isotope uranium-235; the equilibrium concentration in uranium ore is 46.55 ²³¹Pa per million ²³⁵U. In nuclear reactors, it is one of the few long-lived radioactive actinides produced as a byproduct of the projected thorium fuel cycle, as a result of (n,2n) reactions where a fast neutron removes a neutron from ²³²Th or ²³²U, and can also be destroyed by neutron capture though the cross section for this reaction is also low.

binding energy: 1759860 keV
beta decay energy: −382 keV

spin: 3/2−
mode of decay: alpha to ²²⁷Ac, also others

possible parent nuclides: beta from ²³¹Th, EC from ²³¹U, alpha from ²³⁵Np.

Protactinium-233

Protactinium-233 is also part of the thorium fuel cycle. It is an intermediate beta decay product between thorium-233 (produced from natural thorium-232 by neutron capture) and uranium-233 (the fissile fuel of the thorium cycle). Some thorium-cycle reactor designs try to protect Pa-233 from further neutron capture producing Pa-234 and U-234, which are not useful as fuel.

Table

nuclide symbol	historic name	Z(p)	N(n)	isotopic mass (u)	half-life	decay mode(s)[6][n 1]	daughter isotope(s)[n 2]	nuclear spin	representative isotopic composition (mole fraction)	range of natural variation (mole fraction)
		excitation energy
^212Pa		91	121	212.02320(8)	8(5) ms [5.1(+61−19) ms]			7+#
^213Pa		91	122	213.02111(8)	7(3) ms [5.3(+40−16) ms]	α	^209Ac	9/2−#
^214Pa		91	123	214.02092(8)	17(3) ms	α	^210Ac
^215Pa		91	124	215.01919(9)	14(2) ms	α	^211Ac	9/2−#
^216Pa		91	125	216.01911(8)	105(12) ms	α (80%)	^212Ac
						β^+ (20%)	^216Th
^217Pa		91	126	217.01832(6)	3.48(9) ms	α	^213Ac	9/2−#
^217mPa		1860(7) keV			1.08(3) ms	α	^213Ac	29/2+#
						IT (rare)	^217Pa
^218Pa		91	127	218.020042(26)	0.113(1) ms	α	^214Ac
^219Pa		91	128	219.01988(6)	53(10) ns	α	^215Ac	9/2−
						β^+ (5×10^−9%)	^219Th
^220Pa		91	129	220.02188(6)	780(160) ns	α	^216Ac	1−#
^221Pa		91	130	221.02188(6)	4.9(8) µs	α	^217Ac	9/2−
^222Pa		91	131	222.02374(8)#	3.2(3) ms	α	^218Ac
^223Pa		91	132	223.02396(8)	5.1(6) ms	α	^219Ac
						β^+ (.001%)	^223Th
^224Pa		91	133	224.025626(17)	844(19) ms	α (99.9%)	^220Ac	5−#
						β^+ (.1%)	^224Th
^225Pa		91	134	225.02613(8)	1.7(2) s	α	^221Ac	5/2−#
^226Pa		91	135	226.027948(12)	1.8(2) min	α (74%)	^222Ac
						β^+ (26%)	^226Th
^227Pa		91	136	227.028805(8)	38.3(3) min	α (85%)	^223Ac	(5/2−)
						EC (15%)	^227Th
^228Pa		91	137	228.031051(5)	22(1) h	β^+ (98.15%)	^228Th	3+
						α (1.85%)	^224Ac
^229Pa		91	138	229.0320968(30)	1.50(5) d	EC (99.52%)	^229Th	(5/2+)
						α (.48%)	^225Ac
^229mPa		11.6(3) keV			420(30) ns			3/2−
^230Pa		91	139	230.034541(4)	17.4(5) d	β^+ (91.6%)	^230Th	(2−)
						β^− (8.4%)	^230U
						α (.00319%)	^226Ac
^231Pa	Protoactinium	91	140	231.0358840(24)	3.276(11)×10^4 y	α	^227Ac	3/2−	1.0000[n 3]
						CD (1.34×10^−9%)	^207Tl ^24Ne
						SF (3×10^−10%)	(various)
						CD (10^−12%)	^208Pb ^23F
^232Pa		91	141	232.038592(8)	1.31(2) d	β^−	^232U	(2−)
						EC (.003%)	^232Th
^233Pa		91	142	233.0402473(23)	26.975(13) d	β^−	^233U	3/2−
^234Pa	Uranium Z	91	143	234.043308(5)	6.70(5) h	β^−	^234U	4+	Trace[n 4]
						SF (3×10^−10%)	(various)
^234mPa	Uranium X2 Brevium	78(3) keV			1.17(3) min	β^− (99.83%)	^234U	(0−)	Trace[n 4]
						IT (.16%)	^234Pa
						SF (10^−10%)	(various)
^235Pa		91	144	235.04544(5)	24.44(11) min	β^−	^235U	(3/2−)
^236Pa		91	145	236.04868(21)	9.1(1) min	β^−	^236U	1(−)
						β^−, SF (6×10^−8%)	(various)
^237Pa		91	146	237.05115(11)	8.7(2) min	β^−	^237U	(1/2+)
^238Pa		91	147	238.05450(6)	2.27(9) min	β^−	^238U	(3−)#
						β^−, SF (2.6×10^−6%)	(various)
^239Pa		91	148	239.05726(21)#	1.8(5) h	β^−	^239U	(3/2)(−#)
^240Pa		91	149	240.06098(32)#	2# min	β^−	^240U

1. Abbreviations:
   CD: Cluster decay
   EC: Electron capture
   IT: Isomeric transition
   SF: Spontaneous fission
2. Stable isotopes in bold
3. Intermediate decay product of ²³⁵U
4. Intermediate decay product of ²³⁸U

Notes

• Values marked are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses.
• Uncertainties are given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits. Uncertainty values denote one standard deviation, except isotopic composition and standard atomic mass from IUPAC, which use expanded uncertainties.

References

1. Plus radium (element 88). While actually a sub-actinide, it immediately precedes actinium (89) and follows a three-element gap of instability after polonium (84) where no isotopes have half-lives of at least four years (the longest-lived isotope in the gap is radon-222 with a half life of less than four days). Radium's longest lived isotope, at 1,600 years, thus merits the element's inclusion here.
2. Specifically from thermal neutron fission of U-235, e.g. in a typical nuclear reactor.
3. Milsted, J.; Friedman, A. M.; Stevens, C. M. (1965). "The alpha half-life of berkelium-247; a new long-lived isomer of berkelium-248". Nuclear Physics. 71 (2): 299. doi:10.1016/0029-5582(65)90719-4.
   "The isotopic analyses disclosed a species of mass 248 in constant abundance in three samples analysed over a period of about 10 months. This was ascribed to an isomer of Bk²⁴⁸ with a half-life greater than 9 y. No growth of Cf²⁴⁸ was detected, and a lower limit for the β⁻ half-life can be set at about 10⁴ y. No alpha activity attributable to the new isomer has been detected; the alpha half-life is probably greater than 300 y."
4. This is the heaviest isotope with a half-life of at least four years before the "Sea of Instability".
5. Excluding those "classically stable" isotopes with half-lives significantly in excess of ²³²Th; e.g., while ^113mCd has a half-life of only fourteen years, that of ¹¹³Cd is nearly eight quadrillion years.
6. "Universal Nuclide Chart". nucleonica. (registration required (help)).

• Isotope masses from:
  • G. Audi; A. H. Wapstra; C. Thibault; J. Blachot; O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" (PDF). Nuclear Physics A. 729: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001.
• Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from:
  • J. R. de Laeter; J. K. Böhlke; P. De Bièvre; H. Hidaka; H. S. Peiser; K. J. R. Rosman; P. D. P. Taylor (2003). "Atomic weights of the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 75 (6): 683–800. doi:10.1351/pac200375060683.
  • M. E. Wieser (2006). "Atomic weights of the elements 2005 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 78 (11): 2051–2066. doi:10.1351/pac200678112051. Lay summary.
• Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources. See editing notes on this article's talk page.
  • G. Audi; A. H. Wapstra; C. Thibault; J. Blachot; O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" (PDF). Nuclear Physics A. 729: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001.
  • National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.1 database". Brookhaven National Laboratory. Retrieved September 2005. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  • N. E. Holden (2004). "Table of the Isotopes". In D. R. Lide. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (85th ed.). CRC Press. Section 11. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9.