I think all such events were associated with spontaneous fission of U-235. I do not know if physics calculations for non-critical neutrons were consistent with the spontaneous fission of U-235 measured in a non-energetic environment.
I do believe the neutrino flux from the sun seems to influence radioactive decay. It may have had an influence on U-235 fission also. I do not think the data on spontaneous fission was accurate enough to discern the possible small effects an electric current on reactor fuel. All tests were well grounded to handle static buildup as I recall. Bob Cook From: Eric Walker Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 8:34 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Vo]:Electron-mediated alpha decay in quasi-stable isotopes On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 3:33 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: Generally speaking the fission barrier gets lower as the element gets heavier, which is why 235U can be split with a single neutron. Bob (Cook), In your days working with/in connection with nuclear reactors, were there any anecdotes about strange things happening when an electrical current was run through reactor fuel? Eric
