N=82 shell quenching of the classical r-process "waiting-point" nucleus 130C -: art. no. 162503

First beta- and gamma-spectroscopic decay studies of the N=82 r-process "waiting-point" nuclide Cd-130 have been performed at CERN/ISOLDE using the highest achievable isotopic selectivity. Several nuclear-physics surprises have been discovered. The first one is the unanticipatedly high energy of 2.12 MeV for the [pig(9/2)circle timesnug(7/2)] 1(+) level in In-130, which is fed by the main Gamow-Teller transition. The second surprise is the rather high Q(beta) value of 8.34 MeV, which is in agreement only with recent mass models that include the phenomenon of N=82 shell quenching. Possible implications of these new results on the formation of the Asimilar or equal to130 r-process abundance peak are presented.