Nuclear waste disposal is one of the major concerns of the nuclear industry. In choosing a safe and stable environment to store nuclear wastes, consideration must be given to the heat released during nuclear decay. As an example, consider the β decay of 90Sr (89.907738 amu):

The 90Y (89.907152 amu) further decays as follows:

Zirconium-90 (89.904703 amu) is a stable isotope.
(a) Use the mass defect to calculate the energy released (in joules) in each of the above two decays. (The mass of the electron is 5.4857 × 10-4 amu.)
(b) Starting with one mole of 90Sr, calculate the number of moles of 90Sr that will decay in a year.
(c) Calculate the amount of heat released (in kilojoules) corresponding to the number of moles of 90Sr decayed to 90Zr in (b).

Transcribed Image Text:

4=64 h