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The heaviest isotopes of elements Z = 117 to Z = 105, 294117, 293117, 290115, 289115, 286113, 285113, 282Rg, 281Rg, 278Mt, 274Bh, and 270Db, were identified by means of the Dubna gas-filled recoil separator among the products of the 249Bk + 48Ca reaction. The details of the observed six decay chains, indicating the production and decay of isotopes 293117 and 294117, are presented and discussed. The decay energies and resulting half-lives of these new nuclei show a strong rise of stability with increasing neutron number, validating the concept of the island of enhanced stability for superheavy nuclei.

The discovery of a new chemical element with atomic number Z=117 is reported. The isotopes {sup 293}117 and {sup 294}117 were produced in fusion reactions between {sup 48}Ca and {sup 249}Bk. Decay chains involving 11 new nuclei were identified by means of the Dubna gas-filled recoil separator. The measured decay properties show a strong rise of stability for heavier isotopes with Z{>=}111, validating the concept of the long sought island of enhanced stability for superheavy nuclei.

The Radiochemical Engineering Development Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory processes irradiated targets to recover the transplutonium actinides for research and industrial users. In a typical processing campaign, dekagram quantities of curium are recovered for recycle into targets for subsequent irradiation and processing; decigram quantities of californium are recovered for fabrication into neutron sources; and milligram quantities of einsteinium and berkelium as well as picogram quantities of fermium are recovered for distribution to the research community. The transcurium actinides are separated in a series of chromatographic elutions using a cation-exchange resin and ammonium α-hydroxyisobutyrate as the eluant. The fermium fraction from these final purification runs still contains significant amounts of rare earth fission products, such as yttrium, dysprosium, and holmium. In the most recent campaign, a process using a TEVA™ resin extraction chromatography column was developed and tested to determine its effectiveness in providing a fermium product free of rare earth fission products. Gamma spectroscopy indicated that dysprosium and holmium were reduced to levels less than minimum detectable limits and that only 0.07 pg of 91Y remained in the final fermium product, which contained 0.5 pg of 257Fm. An overall decontamination factor of ∼ 103 was achieved for fission product removal.

The synthesis of the new chemical element with atomic number Z=117 is presented. The isotopes 293117 and 294117were produced in fusion reactions between 48Ca and 249Bk. The 249Bk was produced in the High Flux Isotope Reactor and chemically separated at Oak Ridge. Decay chains involving eleven new nuclei were identified by means of the Dubna Gas Filled Recoil Separator. The measured decay properties show a strong rise of stability for super-heavy nuclei toward N=184.