Word: fissioning
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Strontium 90 is probably the most-feared fission product. Chemically similar to calcium, it is absorbed along with calcium by the human system and deposited in the bones, where its persistent radioactivity (half-life 28 years) may cause cancer. Collecting 500 samples of fresh human bone from widely separated parts of the world, the Columbia men analyzed them delicately and concluded that "at the present time, strontium 90 can be found in all human beings, regardless of age or geographic location s . ." The amount is not large. Averaging all the results together, they reckoned that the human race...
...Columbia men do not consider their work complete. It measured only one of the many fission products. It had nothing to do with the genetic perils of radioactivity. It paid no attention to areas (such as the U.S. Southwest) where "local" fallout has been heavy. It used a very small sample: 500 cases out of 2.5 billion humans...
...battery's power comes from promethium 147 (one of the more plentiful byproducts of nuclear fission), which emits low-energy beta particles (electrons). Other atomic batteries have attempted to turn beta particles directly into electric current, but they have often run into trouble because the particles damage the current-yielding parts of the battery. The Kidde-Elgin battery sidesteps this difficulty by mixing the promethium 147 with a phosphor (light-giving substance) and enclosing the mixture in transparent plastic. Electrons from the Pm-147 make the phosphor glow, and its light is turned into electricity by a photoelectric surface...
...Fact & Fission. P.R.D.C. did much to dispel these fears last week by submitting the testimony of five top-drawer atom scientists and reactor experts. Their verdict, summarized by Professor Hans A. Bethe of Cornell University: "By the application of theoretical physics to what we now know, a fast-breeder reactor can be constructed and operated without undue risk to the public ... its operation is safe." Furthermore, AEC stressed that its Monroe permit is only for the construction of the plant, not its operation. Unless all the bugs are worked out of the fast breeder by the time the plant...
...catalyzed fusion could be made practical, it would have advantages over known methods of releasing nuclear energy. It would not require expensive fuel, as uranium fission does, and it would not create dangerously radioactive fission products. It would not need excessively high temperature, as thermonuclear (H-bomb) reactions do. It might burn peacefully, almost like an old-fashioned fire of chemical fuel...