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Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 63, No. 6, pp. 879-886, 1991.

 

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY
in conjunction with
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PURE AND APPLIED PHYSICS

Criteria that must be satisfied for the
Discovery of a New Chemical Element to be Recognized

being the report on phase (i) of operations of the
TRANSFERMIUM WORKING GROUP OF IUPAC AND IUPAP*

Prepared for publication by A. H. Wapstra

Nationaal Instituut voor Kernfysica en Hoge-Energiefysica, POB 41882, 1009 D13, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

World Wide Web version

Preface: The discovery (synthesis) of a new element has become a very complicated matter because it now requires the intricate equipment of nuclear physics and because the number of atoms prepared is often extremely small. The very short half-life of many of the isotopes poses still further problems of experimentation. There has been considerable discussion and some disagreement concerning the discovery of the transfermium elements. Moreover the discoverers are often interested in proposing names for the new elements they have synthesised. In some cases, it turned out that the first claim later proves to be wrong. In other cases, the claim was well established and carried conviction. There are also examples where the first claim, though later shown to be correct was based on experiments which were themselves not entirely conclusive so that further experiments were needed; clearly in such cases the discovery has to be shared. To clarify the situation a working group called Transfermium Working Group (TWG) was set up. Its members were nominated both by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics and by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry since both physics and chemistry were involved in establishing the claims to discovery.

The present document is the Report of Phase (i) of the Transfermium Working Group. It refers to the establishment of criteria that must be satisfied for the discovery of a new element to be recognised. The document has been reviewed and discussed by three three main laboratories involved in this difficult work, namely the Berkeley group, the Darmstadt Group and the Dubna Group, and has been accepted and cleared for publication by the two International Unions.

A second document named Report of Phase (ii) is under preparation [see note]. It will apply these criteria to the discovery of the transfermium elements and will report the considered conclusions of the Transfermium Working Group concerning the discovery of each of these elements.

Y. P. Jeannin
President of IUPAC

Note:
Part ii. Introduction to Discovery Profiles, Part iii. Discovery Profiles of the Transfermium Elements, Responses from the concerned laboratories in Berkeley, Dubna and Damstadt, and Reply to responses by Transfermium Working Group, Pure Appl. Chem. 1993, 65, 1757-1814.


  Preface
I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND GENERAL INTRODUCTION
II.  CRITERIA
III.

PRODUCTION PROPERTIES

IV. RADIOACTIVE PROPERTIES
V. CONCLUDING REMARKS


* Membership of the Transfermium Working Group was as follows:
Chairman: D.H. Wilkinson (IUPAP; UK); Secretaries: A.H. Wasptra (IUPAP; Netherlands); I. Ulehla (IUPAP; Czechoslovakia); Members: R.C. Barber (IUPAP; Canada); N.N. Greenwood (IUPAP; UK); A. Hrynkiewiez (IUPAP; Poland); Y. Jeanin (IUPAC; France); M. Lefort (IUPAP; France); M. Sakai (IUPAP; Japan).


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