Nuclear isomers as ultra-high-energy-density materials

A major energy advance could result if the enormous potential of nuclear energy storage could be tapped without the penalty of radioactive by-products. Recent research has uncovered a new method for nuclear energy storage with high energy density and no residual radioactivity. Nuclear isomers are metastable states of atomic nuclei which release their energy in a prompt burst of electromagnetic radiation; in many cases the product remaining after decay of isomer is stable and no activity is produced by the electromagnetic decay. Two kinds of nuclear isomers are known: spin isomers and shape isomers. The former lacks a release mechanism. Theory has predicted the existence of shape isomers in the mass range around mercury and gold where decay by fission is prohibited. Experiments on the existence of fissionless shape isomers have resulted in evidence for 27 different shape isomers in isotopes of mercury, lead, and thallium. Three potential candidates for release mechanisms have been identified to date: neutron catalysis (Hf- 178), laser-electron-nuclear coupling (Th-229), and Stark-shift-induced mixing (speculative). Ways of producing nonfissioning shape isomers are discussed.