Tritium recoil ranges and their influence on the helium moderator anomaly

Abstract

The original data of Seewald and Wolfgang showed an anomaly in the kinetic analysis of the recoil tritium + methane system when helium was used as a moderator. This anomaly was interpreted by postulating the presence of tritium ions in systems containing large amounts of helium. New calculations indicate that the tritium recoil ranges used in the original work may have been too large, resulting in a significant overestimate of product yields. A re-examination of the original data using new recoil ranges shows that the anomaly has disappeared.

A list of tritium recoil ranges in a variety of gases is included.