Isotopes of xenon
Open-knowledge reference entry
Naturally occurring xenon (54Xe) consists of nine isotopes: seven stable isotopes and two very long-lived radioactive isotopes: double electron capture has been observed in 124Xe (half-life 1.1 ± 0.2stat ± 0.1sys×1022 years), and double beta decay in 136Xe (half-life 2.18 ×1021 years), which are among the longest measured half-lives of all nuclides. The isotopes 126Xe and 134Xe are also predicted to undergo double beta decay, but such decay processes have not been observed. Artificial unstable isotopes have been prepared from 108Xe to 150Xe, the longest-lived of which is 127Xe with a half-life of 36.342 days. All other nuclides have half-lives less than 12 days, most less than one hour. The shortest-lived isotope, 108Xe, has a half-life of 58 μs, and is the heaviest known nuclide with equal numbers of protons and neutrons. Of known isomers, the longest-lived is 131mXe with a half-life of 11.95 days, the second longest of all xenon's nuclides.
129Xe is produced by beta decay of natural or artificial 129I (half-life 16.1 million years); 131mXe, 133Xe, 133mXe, and 135Xe are some of the fission products of both 235U and 239Pu, so are used as indicators of nuclear explosions.
The artificial isotope 135Xe is of considerable significance in the operation of nuclear fission reactors. 135Xe has a huge cross section for thermal neutrons, 2.65 million barns, so it acts as a neutron absorber or "poison" that can slow or stop the chain reaction after a period of operation. This was discovered in the earliest nuclear reactors built by the American Manhattan Project for plutonium production.
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