There is no such thing as a “safe dose” of plutonium. While it was common to think that uranium was the most dangerous element on the periodic table a few decades ago, scientists have now discovered a more lethal element. Plutonium, Pu, element 94 on the periodic table is a transuranic radioactive chemical element; meaning it emits excess energy when it decays.
Many previous studies on transuranic elements discovered uranium as the most deadly. Plutonium, recently reviewed by scientists, has also been found to emit alpha radiation, a highly hazardous type which is also emitted by Uranium. It has been concluded that plutonium has a higher radioactivity, hence a faster half-life.
What is Radiation?
Radiation is excess energy, which travels through space in the form of heat, light, sound, microwaves, radio waves and x-rays. Low radioactive substances can be found everywhere.
When much more sophisticated elements are subject to decay, they release many types of radiation; the most common are alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays.
Beta particles are negatively charged and small, allowing them to move fast and penetrate up to 2 centimetres of human skin.
Gamma rays are high-energy waves, and can travel long distances and penetrate human skin. However, they can be blocked by concrete, led, metal or even water.
Both beta and gamma rays are often found in most radioactive materials, while alpha particles appear in much more hazardous elements such as uranium and plutonium.
Alpha Particles
An alpha particle is a type an ionizing radiation, which emits particles, composed of two protons and two neutrons, without elections; giving it a net positive charge. The radiation is only effective if these alpha particles are e...
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... used in fuels and nuclear power plants would not cause such a life-changing event, for those who live adjacent to neighbouring power plants. Only time will tell what the future will hold, but let’s all hope there’s a bright one ahead.
Works Cited
http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/1222-plutonium-more-dangerous-uranium.html
http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/files/raduranmed.txt
http://www.arpansa.gov.au/radiationprotection/basics/alpha.cfm
http://orise.orau.gov/reacts/guide/alpha.htm
http://www.uraniumsa.org/about/radiation.htm
http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/04/03/impact-of-mox-fuel-at-fukushima/
http://www.imagesco.com/articles/geiger/fig1.jpg
http://gothamist.com/attachments/nyc_arts_john/041211fukushima.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejgKzSsMG48/TYrbIi-O5GI/AAAAAAAAA_s/2sN9lJTEa2c/s1600/reactor_smoke_G_20110323232127.jpg
Before we can analyze the ethical use of DU ammunition, it is important to first establish the technology behind DU and DU weapons. Uranium is one of the heaviest elements found in nature and is emits alpha, beta, and gamma particles. It is 1.7 times denser than lead.12 The half-life of U238 (DU is 99% U238) is 4.5 billion years!13 Uranium byproducts(such as Thorium (Th232)) have even longer half-lives, making uranium an element that gets more radioactive during its own decay process.5 Natural uranium is 99.274% U238, 0.720% U235, and 0.0055% U234.14a Uranium is enriched when its contents of U235 reaches 3.2-3.6% (since U235 is fissible). Weapon-grade uranium is +90% U235.14a What is depleted uranium? We start out with natural uranium and extract enriched uranium for nuclear fuel and weaponry. The leftover from the extraction process is something very similar to natural uranium, known as “depleted uranium”. The only difference is that DU has 0.202% of U235 and 0.0008% of U234.14a How much DU do we currently have? As of June 1998, we have around 57,800 huge steel cylinders of DU or 496,000 metric tons. 14b Storage of DU is very complicated and problematic since corrosion of DU storage cylinders often occurs over relatively short periods of time.15
From its time of discovery in 1941 Plutonium has been both beneficial and detrimental to the human race. The isotope most detrimental is Plutonium-239 which has been used to create nuclear weapons. Plutonium-239 was used in the atomic bomb codenamed “Fat Man” that was dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. Normally a nuclear bomb uses 10 kilograms of Plutonium, but “Fat Man” used even less and still caused a lot of destruction. To put it in perspective again just 1 kilogram of Plutonium-239 causes an explosion equal to that of 20,000 tons of TNT. The way Plutonium-239 works in an atomic bomb is it is controlled by explosives until it goes critical and cause a fission chain reaction. When this happens all the energy is released causing a nuclear
Plutonium, which is a byproduct of the fission process, can also be used for manufacturing weapons and only requires 2-10kg to develop weapons. The atom bomb that landed in Nagasaki contained plutonium fuel. Depleted uranium, which is the left over from the enrichment process, is used to make military grade armor piercing bullets. These DU penetrators have been used in wars throughout history, the most recent being the Gulf wars. This is a disadvantage because the depleted uranium is toxic and has been scientifically proven to cause birth defects, cancer, and death where it was used.
Technetium, as with other radioactive material there is the chance of cancer, and other health conditions from exposure to radioactivity.
But not the kind used in a nuclear bomb. No, no. “This plutonium is way more dangerous” he says in pg 73. But every time he fixes one problem, another one we’re going to occur.
Contamination from the depleted uranium weaponries and other pollution caused by war is alleged for the rise in congenital birth defects, cancer, and other illnesses (Jamail, 2013).
Uranium has multiple isotopes, the most common isotope is uranium-238, and with uranium-235 being the most popular, but less abundant. Surprisingly, uranium is not necessary for the sustainability of life, and is not chemically toxic (Cox, ...
...ot weigh much, they can travel far, and through thin surfaces. This means that they are not very dangerous to be around. Many scientists already know what would happen if a plant was exposed to released alpha particles.
Uranium is a rare element and formed not just on Earth but also in space and other planets. It is formed in exploding supernovas, and since it has 92 electrons and 92 protons it is the heaviest naturally produced element. It is radioactive and very harmful and sometimes fatal to humans when contact is made. However it is a sustainable and long lasting source of energy and much better for the environment compared to the more traditional approach to energy, Fossil Fuels. Some scientists say it may be the solution to climate change.
Mining for elements that could be used as a nuclear power were very important in the Cold War. New technology and research for nuclear material was an essential part in building a nuclear weapon. The most important element for making nuclear weapons is uranium. Uranium is used to make plutonium, a very powerful element, by deuteron bombardment of uranium oxide. Uranium, a gray-colored element, is mined from the common uranium ores. Common isotopes, such as, radioactive sulfur (S35), radioactive carbon (C14), radioactive phosphorus (P32) and strontium (Sr90) were a great safety hazard towards the environment and mammals. The amount of time it takes for half the radioactive isotope to disintegrate is called half-life. "Isotopes with a short half-life, measured in seconds, hours, or days, are considered generally less dangerous to the envioronment2." Isotopes with a high half-life are very harmful to our world; for example, plutonium in one of its forms (Pu239) has a half-life of over 20,000 years. There is so much heat given off that, in power reactors, the heat is used to generate electricity. These nuclear elements, mainly plutonium, was used to make the most destructive weapons ever to be built: nuclear missiles.
Each ray in the spectrum have different characteristics and features. Gamma rays, along with 2 others are "ionizing," meaning these waves have such a high level of energy that they can knock electrons out of atoms. Exposure to these highly energized waves can reshape atoms and molecules and cause damage to cells in natural, untouched forms and matter. This is where the separation of the advantages and dis advantages of ionizing waves occur. These changes to cells can be helpful, as when radiation is used to kill cancer cells, yet if not taken care of seriously it can be highly dangerous to the lives of us humans. Out of the electromagnetic spectrum Gamma rays hold the smallest wave length of 10 to the power of 10-10 to the power of 12. In electromagnetic radiation the wave’s frequency is ...
Radiation is when the heat energy travels in actual waves. The suns energy gets to earth because of radiation. These three types of heat transfer can be easily found in the activities we have been doing the past couple of weeks having to do with a universal dwelling. They can mostly be seen when we are trying to test the heating and cooling capabilities of our universal home model.
Uranium was discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German chemist, in the mineral pitchblende (primarily a mix of uranium oxides) in 1789.Klaproth, as well as the rest of the scientific community, believed that the substance he extracted from pitchblende was pure uranium, it was actually uranium dioxide (UO2). After noticing that 'pure' uranium reacted oddly with uranium tetrachloride (UCl4), Radioactivity was first discovered in 1896 when Antoine Henri Becquerel, a French physicist, detected it from a sample of uranium. Today, uranium is obtained from uranium ores such as pitchblende, uraninite , carnotite and autunite as well as from phosphate rock , lignite (brown coal) and monazite sand . Since there is little demand for uranium metal, uranium is usually sold in the form of sodium diuranate , also known as yellow cake, or triuranium octoxide).
Cosmic rays originate from sources in outer space and strike every side of the Earth. Sources of cosmic rays include neutron stars, supernovae, quasars, black holes, and pulsars. Our sun is also capable of producing cosmic rays, but the cosmic rays which it produces contributes little when compared to the total amount of cosmic rays that reach the earth. In addition, the cosmic rays from our sun are typically much lower in energy compared to the cosmic rays that originate from the sources mentioned previously (“Primary Cosmic Rays”). These waves consist of high-energy charged particles, such as atoms’ nuclei, electrons, and positrons. Positrons are also known as antielectrons and they have the same mass as the electron (Phillips). The nuclei found in cosmic rays belong to a wide range of elements, but the majority of the nuclei belong to Hydrogen (i.e. a proton).