Depleted zinc oxide (DZO) is a

zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder that is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, food supplements, rubbers, plastics, ceram ...

depleted in the zinc isotope with the atomic mass 64, and used as a

corrosion inhibitor In chemistry, a corrosion inhibitor or anti-corrosive is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, decreases the corrosion rate of a material, typically a metal or an alloy, that comes into contact with the fluid. The effectiveness ...

in nuclear

pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) is ...

s. The depletion of ⁶⁴Zn is necessary, because this isotope is transformed into ⁶⁵Zn by

neutron capture Neutron capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus. Since neutrons have no electric charge, they can enter a nucleus more easily than positively charged protons, ...

. ⁶⁵Zn with a

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable at ...

of 244.26 days emits

gamma radiation A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically s ...

with 1.115 MeV. ⁶⁴Zn has a natural abundance of 48.6%, but in DZO it is reduced below 1%. Adding zinc oxide to the primary water loop of a boiling water reactor or pressurized water nuclear reactor reduces corrosion and therefore minimizes the amount of dissolved materials, especially ⁶⁰Co. The isotope separation of zinc is done by gas centrifugation of diethylzinc.

References

External links

* *{{Dead link, date=July 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Nuclear materials Corrosion inhibitors Zinc oxide Isotopes of zinc