Rosatom has completed the production of berkelium targets, which will be used in experiments to synthesize the 119th chemical element. The next step will be their application at the accelerator complex in Dubna to obtain a new superheavy element of the periodic table.
The work was carried out by specialists from the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR) in Dimitrovgrad. Scientists produced the rare isotope berkelium-249 and manufactured accelerator target segments from it in accordance with the approved schedule. In the near future, they will be transferred to the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.
NIIAR noted that obtaining berkelium-249 was the result of many years of work by specialists and an important contribution to the study of superheavy elements.
The cooperation between NIIAR and JINR in this area has continued for more than two decades. During this time, Russian scientists created targets for experiments that led to the synthesis of elements 115, 116, 117, and 118. The last of these, "oganesson," was officially discovered in 2006 and named after physicist Yuri Oganessian.
The Superheavy Element Factory, launched in Dubna in 2020, remains a key platform for new research. The complex is designed to study the limits of existence of atomic nuclei, obtain new elements, and study their properties. One of the main goals of the current program is the synthesis of elements 119 and 120, which can expand the modern periodic table.