PRECISE STUDIES OF 0(+)-]0(+) SUPERALLOWED BETA-EMITTERS AT CHALK RIVER

Precision studies of O+-->O+ superallowed beta decays provide the necessary data to test stringently the CVC hypothesis, to extract a value for the weak vector coupling constant and to determine the V-ud quark mixing element of the Kobayashi-Maskawa (KM) matrix. This element is crucial to test the unitarity of this matrix, and thus probe the need for physics beyond the three-generation Standard Model. This paper details recent experimental and theoretical advances in the field made at the Chalk River Laboratories. It also reports the first observation of the decay of Fe-50.