Inbeam yray spectroscopy of octupole deformed odd Z 225Pa

The structure of isotopes in the light-actinide region of the nuclear chart is of interest due to the prediction of pear-shaped nuclei. Both theoretical and experimental research has provided evidence for the breaking of intrinsic symmetry with the identification of octupole deformation in specific nuclei, which explains why interleaving alternating-parity bands have been observed

One of the main areas of impact of this research is in the provision of skills to employees and future employees of the nuclear-power industry. With ever increasing concern about climate change and our own developing consciousness about our carbon footprints, the provision of nuclear energy remains topical and important. The new-build of nuclear power stations and the ongoing vast programme of decommissioning, means that the teaching of nuclear skills is very important, and is likely to remain important well into the future. Our STFC-funded research will enable us to stay at the forefront of detector and technical developments, which are important to this field. We will transfer knowledge gained in our research to industry, for example, in the use of novel radiation detectors and digital signal processing. We will provide specific skills training and thereby contribute to providing the UK with a highly-skilled workforce who can help to meet future energy demands, and contribute towards the UK industrial strategy.

Another important impact of our research is to attract the interest of school children, and hence to increase the numbers of students studying physics at university. It has previously been reported that "big science", including nuclear physics, particle physics, and astrophysics, is a huge attraction to draw students into physics degrees. Publicizing our results from projects, such as AGATA and ISOLDE at CERN, will act as a carrot-on-a-stick to bring students into university to study physics. A larger number of physics students will equip the UK with a larger numerate and scientifically-minded workforce, which in turn will have a positive effect on the economy. This impact will be maximized by presenting the results of our STFC-funded research to local schools and to the general public; we have requested some modest funds for this purpose.

Our research has a direct impact on the area of nuclear medicine, which can be illustrated with an example: we have an ongoing project working with the West of Scotland PET Centre at Gartnaval Hospital in the West-End of Glasgow, in which we help to identify and quantify radioactive waste that results from the production of the PET isotope fluorine-18. An impact of that project is a better categorization of waste ensuring that low-level waste is separated from high-level waste, therefore providing a cost saving to the NHS. It should also be noted that there are also more indirect impacts of our research in medicine. A good example is our proposed study of the odd-mass actinide nuclei, where we will search for parity doublets that are characteristic of reflection-asymmetric octupole deformation. One of the nuclei we will study is radium-223. However, radium-223 is also now used as a radiopharmaceutical to treat cancers in bone. The radium atoms mimic calcium atoms, and the alpha particles emitted have short range so only do damage to cells in a very localized, targeted area. It is therefore very important that we fully understand the alpha decay of radium-223 and its daughters - which will be studied in our programme.

Additionally, our research studying high-energy beta decays will help to understand additional heat production in operational nuclear reactors, and will have an important influence on the design of future compact reactors.

Nuclear-based techniques have become quite common in industry and nuclear medical imaging is now an integral part of the treatment provided by hospitals. Such techniques have clear benefits to society and improve the quality of life. Cancer therapy using beams of gamma rays and charged particles saves thousands of lives each year. These applications use methods and techniques that were developed in fundamental research in previous years and decades. Similarly, our fundamental STFC-funded research, proposed here, will lead to the medical and industrial applications of the future.