Re: Nuclear Weapons Material
In message <199408251633.JAA16087@netcom4.netcom.com> Mike Duvos writes:
Uranium is not particularly radioactive, being a long lived alpha emitter. This is true of plutonium and some other fissionable materials as well. I can handle clad uranium or plutonium reactor or bomb components in complete safety with no protective clothing needed. The only hazard is from ingestion of the material, or from accumulation of decay products such as radon in a badly ventilated area.
Workers in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities have been known to use small disks of plutonium sintered into a ceramic base as poker chips.
Is this true? I mean, do you know it from personal experience? I was told by what I considered to be reliable sources that plutonium was extremely toxic. Upon reflection, I am sure that this is the word that was used: toxic, not radioactive. By "clad", do you mean coated in lead? -- Jim Dixon
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In list.cypherpunks, Jim Dixon spake:
In message <199408251633.JAA16087@netcom4.netcom.com> Mike Duvos writes:
Workers in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities have been known to use small disks of plutonium sintered into a ceramic base as poker chips.
Is this true? I mean, do you know it from personal experience? I was told by what I considered to be reliable sources that plutonium was extremely toxic. Upon reflection, I am sure that this is the word that was used: toxic, not radioactive.
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. - -- Roy M. Silvernail [ ] roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org PGP public key available by mail echo /get /pub/pubkey.asc | mail file-request@cybrspc.mn.org These are, of course, my opinions (and my machines) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAwUBLl0ekRvikii9febJAQFjmQP+NZQNtjp4D/nLDv9iF613FjvMi+IufqqL Km5zh6dU8G55/MzhyDqhVi3uN+xyzUdMXti1QbYNA7iiuIWlb2igR+VF9lqBC0Te v+OsgT8NFAcRLwAKtCWv2dylo0aAI6q2gJXlhHNqzCsjJk2wpSZwxVWPA4HoUfh5 OI0UZvAx7rc= =/ASB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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jdd＠aiki.demon.co.uk -
roy＠sendai.cybrspc.mn.org