Neutron flow exposure as a test for survival of Artemia salina spores.

Live and heat-inactivated Artemia salina spores (samples with the same mass and filling density) were exposed to a flow of thermal neutrons from a 252Cf radioactive source at an equivalent dose power of about 1 µSv/h. Irradiation led to a 4-fold acceleration of nauplius development and to modification of the element profiles of live spores. The difference between absorption/diffusion of thermal neutrons by live and dead spores was revealed.