To: cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: Re: Nuclear Weapons Material
Roy M. Silvernail says: Plutonium oxide has a reputation for causing eventual lung cancer when inhaled in microgram quantities. But if the plutonium metal is sintered into a ceramic, it's not loose and breathable. I can't say how otherwise toxic it might be, but I'd expect it to be similar to other heavy metals. So the poker chips sound pretty safe.
They'd be safe unless the pot got really big. I recall hearing a radio show in which some nuclear engineer was saying that such-and-such and incident couldn't have really gone critical, because when that happens, it starts to glow sort of bluish color, and you feel heat as if you were standing in front of a really big oven. The way it sounded, I got the impression that unintended criticalities did happen now and then. Thad Beier Pacific Data Images 408)745-6755 thad@pdi.com