NMR studies of actinide compounds; The NMR of actinide nuclei

Walstedt, R. E.*; Tokunaga, Yo  ; Kato, Harukazu*; Sakai, Hironori   ; Fujimoto, Tatsuya; Kambe, Shinsaku  ; Yasuoka, Hiroshi

In a brief recap of recent work on actinide NMR studies at JAERI, we review the direct observation of U NMR which has been carried out for both UO and USb, as well as the estimate of (T) for U which has been obtained from indirect (i.e., of Rh) NMR studies of the Pauli paramagnet URh. New data for 1/ vs. T for O in NpO are presented and analyzed. A sizeable fraction of the observed relaxation rate is strongly field-dependent, an effect attributed to a cross-relaxation process from the 100%-abundant, I = 5/2 Np nuclear spins. Analysis of this relaxation component leads to quantitative estimates of (40ns) and of anomalously enhanced values of the O-Np nuclear spin-spin coupling. These effects as well as future prospects for actinide NMR studies are discussed.