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Protactinium
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==Isotopes==<!-- This section is linked from [[uranium]] --> {{Main|Isotopes of protactinium}} Twenty-nine [[radioisotope]]s of protactinium have been discovered. The most stable are <sup>231</sup>Pa with a half-life of 32,760 years, <sup>233</sup>Pa with a half-life of 27 days, and <sup>230</sup>Pa with a half-life of 17.4 days. All other isotopes have half-lives shorter than 1.6 days, and the majority of these have half-lives less than 1.8 seconds. Protactinium also has two [[nuclear isomer]]s, <sup>217m</sup>Pa (half-life 1.2 milliseconds) and <sup>234m</sup>Pa (half-life 1.16 minutes).<ref name="nubase">{{NUBASE 2003}}</ref> The primary [[decay mode]] for the most stable isotope <sup>231</sup>Pa and lighter (<sup>211</sup>Pa to <sup>231</sup>Pa) is [[alpha decay]], producing [[isotopes of actinium]]. The primary mode for the heavier isotopes (<sup>232</sup>Pa to <sup>239</sup>Pa) is [[beta decay]], producing [[isotopes of uranium]].<ref name="nubase" /> ===Nuclear fission=== The longest-lived and most abundant isotope, <sup>231</sup>Pa, can fission from [[Neutron_temperature#Fast|fast neutrons]] exceeding ~1 [[Electronvolt|MeV]].<ref name="AVG231">{{cite journal |last1=Grosse |first1=A. v. |last2=Booth |first2=E. T. |last3=Dunning |first3=J. R. |title=The Fission of Protactinium (Element 91) |journal=Physical Review |date=15 August 1939 |volume=56 |issue=4 |page=382 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.56.382 |bibcode=1939PhRv...56..382G |url=https://journals.aps.org/pr/pdf/10.1103/PhysRev.56.382 |access-date=17 February 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> <sup>233</sup>Pa, the other isotope of protactinium produced in nuclear reactors, also has a fission threshold of 1 MeV.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tovesson |first1=F. |last2=Hambsch |first2=F.-J |last3=Oberstedt |first3=A. |last4=Fogelberg |first4=B. |last5=Ramström |first5=E. |last6=Oberstedt |first6=S. |title=The Pa-233 Fission Cross Section |journal=Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology |date=August 2002 |volume=39 |issue=sup2 |pages=210–213 |doi=10.1080/00223131.2002.10875076 |bibcode=2002JNST...39Q.210T |s2cid=91866777 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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