Sources

Bomb detonations

About 3.5 tons of plutonium have been released into the environment by atomic bomb tests. While this might sound like a large amount it has only resulted in a very small dose to the majority of the humans on the earth. Overall the health effects of the fission products are far greater than the effects of the actinides released by a nuclear bomb detonation. The plutonium from the Pu fuel of the bomb is converted into a high fired oxide which is carried high into the air. It slowly falls to earth as global fallout and is not soluble, hence as a result it is difficult for this plutonium to be incorporated into an animal if taken by mouth. Much of this plutonium will become tightly absorbed onto sediments of lakes, rivers and oceans. However, about 66% of the plutonium from a bomb explosion is formed by the neutron capture of uranium-238; this plutonium is not converted by the bomb into a high fired oxide as it is formed more slowly. As a result this formed plutonium is more soluble and more able to cause harm when it falls to earth. (Source Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry, G. Choppin, J-O. Liljenzin and J. Rydberg, 3rd Ed, ButterworthHeinemann, 2002) Fission products are the residues of fission processes. ... An oxide is a chemical compound of oxygen with other chemical elements. ... Map of hypothetical fallout dispersal after a large-scale nuclear attack against the United States. ...

Some of the plutonium can be deposited close to the point of detonation. The glassy trinitite formed by the first atom bomb has been examined to determine what actinides and other radioisotopes it contained. A recent paper (P.P. Parekh, T.M. Semkow, M.A. Torres, D.K. Haines, J.M. Cooper, P.M. Rosenberg and M.E. Kitto, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2006, 85, 103-120) reports the levels of long lived radioisotopes in the trinitite. The trinitite was formed from feldspar and quartz which were melted by the heat. Two samples of trinitite were used, the first (left hand side bars) was taken from between 40 and 65 meters of ground zero while the other sample was taken from further away from the ground zero point. Sample of Trinitite. ... Feldspar is the name of an important group of rock-forming minerals which make up perhaps as much as 60% of the Earths crust. ... Quartz is amongst one of the most common minerals in the Earths continental crust. ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Ground zero is the exact location on the ground where any explosion occurs. ...

Levels of radioactivity in the trinitite glass from two different samples as measured by gamma spectrscopy on lumps of the glass. The americium content is the current content while all the other isotopes have been back calculated to shortly after the moment of detonation.

The ¹⁵²Eu and ¹⁵⁴Eu was mainly formed by the neutron activation of the europium in the soil, it is clear that the level of radioactivity for these isotopes is highest where the neutron dose to the soil was larger. Some of the ⁶⁰Co is generated by activation of the cobalt in the soil, but some was also generated by the activation of the cobalt in the steel (100 foot) tower. This ⁶⁰Co from the tower would have been scattered over the site reducing the difference in the soil levels. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x598, 6 KB) Summary levels of radioisotopes in the glass formed by the first atom bomb test as measured by gamma spectrscopy. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x598, 6 KB) Summary levels of radioisotopes in the glass formed by the first atom bomb test as measured by gamma spectrscopy. ... General Name, Symbol, Number europium, Eu, 63 Chemical series lanthanides Group, Period, Block ?, 6, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 151. ... Loess field in Germany Soil horizons are formed by combined biological, chemical and physical alterations. ... General Name, Symbol, Number cobalt, Co, 27 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 9, 4, d Appearance metallic with gray tinge Atomic mass 58. ... The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon content between 0. ...

The ¹³³Ba and ²⁴¹Am are due to the neutron activation of barium and plutonium inside the bomb. The barium was present in the form of the nitrate in the chemical explosives used while the plutonium was the fissile fuel used. General Name, Symbol, Number barium, Ba, 56 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 6, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 137. ... This article or section should include material from Fissile material In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission. ...

It is interesting to note that the ¹³⁷Cs level is higher in the sample which was further away from the ground zero point. This is thought to be because the precursors to the ¹³⁷Cs (¹³⁷I and ¹³⁷Xe) and the cesium to a lesser degree are volatile. The natural radioisotopes in the glass are about the same in both locations.

In this paper a sample of the glass was digested and the plutonium extracted from it, and the mass ratio of the isotopes was calculated from the radiometric measurements. In light green the isotopic siganture for the plutonium used for making the bomb is shown, and on the right in dark green the signature of the plutonium in the trinitite glass is shown. It is very clear that ²³⁸Pu and ²⁴¹Pu were generated during the detonation, so it is reasonable to conclude that some ²⁴⁰Pu was formed during the detonation.

Isotropic signatures of the plutonium before and after the detonation.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x598, 38 KB) Summary See the graphs on the trinity glass in J. Environmental Radioactivity Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x598, 38 KB) Summary See the graphs on the trinity glass in J. Environmental Radioactivity Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Bomb safety trials

One form of release of plutionium into the environment has been safety trials in these experiments nuclear bombs have been subjected to simulated accidents or have been detonated with an abnormal initiation of the chemical explosives. An abnormal implosion will result in a compression of the pit which is less uniform and smaller than the designed compression in the device. Such an abnormal implosion could result from an accident which triggers one or more of the detonators which trigger the chemical explosive charges. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. ...

As a result of these experiments (where no or very little nuclear fission occurs) plutonium metal has been scattered around near the site of the experiemnt. While some of these tests have been done inside holes in the ground, other such tests were conducted in open air. A paper on the radioisotopes left on an island by the French nuclear bombs tests of the 20th century has been printed by the IAEA and a section of this report deals with plutonium contamination resulting from such tests.[1] For the generation of electrical power by fission, see Nuclear power plant An induced nuclear fission event. ... A radionuclide is an atom with an unstable nucleus. ... IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. ...

The two basic fission weapon designs.

Other related trials were conducted at Maralinga, South Australia here both normal bomb detonations and "safety trials" have been conducted. While the activity from the fission products has decayed away almost totally (as of 2006) the plutonium remains active. A report (warning it is very big) can be read at [2] while a smaller report can be seen at [3]. Image File history File links Fission_bomb_assembly_methods. ... Image File history File links Fission_bomb_assembly_methods. ... Maralinga is a small town in the desert of South Australia, famous for nuclear tests that took place there in the 1950s. ...

Atomic batteries

Space

Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe

Another potential source of plutonium being introduced into the environment is the reentry of artificial satellites containing atomic batteries. There have been several such incidents, the most prominent being the Apollo 13 mission. The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package carried on the Lunar Module re-entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific. Many atomic batteries have been of the Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) type. Image File history File links Rtgcutout. ... Image File history File links Rtgcutout. ... This is an artists concept of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. ... The terms atomic battery, nuclear battery and radioisotope battery are used to describe a device which uses the charged particle emissions from a radioactive isotope to directly generate electricity. ... Apollo 13 was the third American-manned lunar-landing mission, part of the Apollo program. ... The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package, or ALSEP, was a set of connected scientific instruments left on the Moon when the Apollo program ended. ... Description Role: Lunar landing Crew: 2; CDR, LM pilot Dimensions Height: 20. ... // A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) is a simple electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. ...

Image of (mostly) thermally isolated, RTG pellet glowing red hot due to incandescence.

Chain reactions do not occur inside RTGs, so such a nuclear meltdown is impossible. In fact, some RTGs are designed so that fission does not occur at all; rather, forms of radioactive decay which cannot trigger other radioactive decays are used instead. As a result, the fuel in an RTG is consumed much more slowly and much less power is produced. Download high resolution version (884x696, 143 KB)This is an image of a glowing red hot pellet of plutonium-238 dioxide to be used in a radioisotope thermoelectric generator for either the Cassini mission to Saturn (planet) or the Galileo mission to Jupiter. ... Download high resolution version (884x696, 143 KB)This is an image of a glowing red hot pellet of plutonium-238 dioxide to be used in a radioisotope thermoelectric generator for either the Cassini mission to Saturn (planet) or the Galileo mission to Jupiter. ... Molten glassy material glows orange with incandescence in a vitrification experiment. ... A nuclear meltdown occurs when the core of a nuclear reactor ceases to be properly controlled and cooled due to failure of control or safety systems, and begins to overheat and melt. ... Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei emit subatomic particles (radiation). ...

RTGs are still a potential source of radioactive contamination: if the container holding the fuel leaks, the radioactive material will contaminate the environment. The main concern is that if an accident were to occur during launch or a subsequent passage of a spacecraft close to Earth, harmful material could be released into the atmosphere. However, this event is extremely unlikely with current RTG cask designs. The radiation warning symbol (trefoil). ...

In order to minimise the risk of the radioactive material being released, the fuel is typically stored in individual modular units with their own heat shielding. They are surrounded by a layer of iridium metal and encased in high-strength graphite blocks. These two materials are corrosion and heat-resistant. Surrounding the graphite blocks is an aeroshell, designed to protect the entire assembly against the heat of reentering the earth's atmosphere. The plutonium fuel is also stored in a ceramic form that is heat-resistant, minimising the risk of vaporization and aerosolization. The ceramic is also highly insoluble. General Name, Symbol, Number iridium, Ir, 77 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 9, 6, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 192. ... Graphite (named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789, from the Greek γραφειν: to draw/write, for its use in pencils) is one of the allotropes of carbon. ... It has been suggested that Solid solubility be merged into this article or section. ...

The US Department of Energy has conducted seawater tests and determined that the graphite casing, which was designed to withstand reentry, is stable and no release of plutonium should occur. Subsequent investigations have found no increase in the natural background radiation in the area. The Apollo 13 accident represents an extreme scenario due to the high re-entry velocities of the craft returning from cislunar space. This accident has served to validate the design of later-generation RTGs as highly safe.

The Plutonium-238 used in RTGs has a half-life of 88 years, as opposed to the plutonium-239 used in nuclear weapons and reactors, which has a half-life of 24,100 years. Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Core of a small nuclear reactor used for research. ... Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ...

Pacemakers

Some heart pacemakers which are powered by RTGs using ²³⁸Pu have been made. The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ... The term pacemaker has multiple meanings: In sports, a pacemaker or pacer is a competitor who enters an athletics race with little or no intention of winning, but purely to set a fast pace for other competitors to follow. ...

Nuclear fuel cycle

Plutonium has been released into the environment in aqueous solution from nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment plants. The chemistry of this plutonium is different to that of the metal oxides formed from nuclear bomb detonations. // Nuclear reprocessing separates any usable elements (e. ... Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ...

One example of a site (military not civil) where plutonium entered the soil is Rocky Flats where in the recent past XANES (a X-ray spectrscopy) has been used to determine the chemical nature of the plutonium in the soil.[4]. The XANES was used to determine the oxidation state of the plutonium, while EXAFS was used to investigate the structure of the plutonium compound present in the soil and concrete.[5] Rocky Flats Plant was a weapons production facility of the Atomic Energy Commission about 15 miles northwest of Denver, Colorado on a windy plateau called Rocky Flats. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Loess field in Germany Soil horizons are formed by combined biological, chemical and physical alterations. ... In chemistry, the oxidation state is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. ... Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectra are graphically represented as the absorption coefficient of a given material versus energy (typically a 500 – 1000 eV range beginning before an absorption edge of a given material). ... The most common form of concrete consists of Portland cement, construction aggregate (generally gravel and sand) and water. ...

The XANES experiments done on plutonium in soil, concrete and standards of the different oxidation states.

Image File history File links PuXANES.jpg‎ Summary This is the product of some work done in the USA by a goverment agency. ... Image File history File links PuXANES.jpg‎ Summary This is the product of some work done in the USA by a goverment agency. ... Loess field in Germany Soil horizons are formed by combined biological, chemical and physical alterations. ... The most common form of concrete consists of Portland cement, construction aggregate (generally gravel and sand) and water. ... In chemistry, the oxidation state is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom in a chemical compound. ...

Chernobyl

Because plutonium oxide is very involatile, most of the plutonium in the reactor was not released during the fire. However that which was released can be measured. V.I. Yoschenko et. al. reported that grass and forest fires can make the cesium, strontium and plutonium become mobile in the air again. (Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2006, 86, 143-163.) As an experiment fires were set and the levels of the radioactivity in the air downwind of these fires was measured. General Name, Symbol, Number Caesium, Cs, 55 Series Alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1(IA), 6, s Density, Hardness 1879 kg/m3, 0. ... General Name, Symbol, Number strontium, Sr, 38 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 5, s Appearance silvery white metallic Atomic mass 87. ... General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass (244) g/mol Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ...

The rate of delivery of radioactivity which has been made mobile by a grass fire. The distance unit is meters

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x598, 10 KB) Summary The results of an experiemnt where a set of fires were lit in the chernobyl exclusion zone, it was found that this caused the radioactivity to become mobile again. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (979x598, 10 KB) Summary The results of an experiemnt where a set of fires were lit in the chernobyl exclusion zone, it was found that this caused the radioactivity to become mobile again. ... An area of grass-like plants Grass generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Poaceae, botanically regarded as true grasses. ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ...

Nuclear crime

One case exists of a German man who attempted to poison his ex-wife with plutonium stolen from WAK (Wiederaufbereitungsanlage Karlsruhe). WAK was a small scale reprocessing plant where he worked. He did not steal a large amount of plutonium, just some rags used for wiping surfaces and a small amount of liquid waste. This man was sent to prison for his crime. [6] [7] At least two people (besides the criminal) were contaminated by the plutonium. [8]. Two flats in Rhineland-Palatinate were contaminated. These were later cleaned at a cost of two million euro. Karlsruhe (population 283,959 in 2005) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border. ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... ISO 4217 Code EUR User(s) European Union; Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Montenegro, Kosovo, French Guiana, Réunion, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte. ...

For photographs of the case and details of other nuclear crimes see [9] which was presented by a worker at the ITU. This article is about the location. ...

The details of how the two flats were cleaned has been recorded [10]. The flats were in a place called Landau. Map of Germany showing Landau Coat of Arms of Landau, 1291 – 1955 Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous (Kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße (southern wineroute) district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ...

Environmental chemistry

Plutonium like other actinides readily forms a dioxide plutonyl core (PuO₂). In the environment, this plutonyl core readily complexes with carbonate as well as other oxygen moeities (OH^-, NO₂^-, NO₃^-, and SO₄^-2) to form charged complexes which can be readily mobile with low affinities to soil.

• PuO₂(CO₃)₁^-2
• PuO₂(CO₃)₂^-4
• PuO₂(CO₃)₃^-6

PuO₂ formed from neutralizing highly acidic nitric acid solutions tends to form polymeric PuO₂ which is resistant to complexation. Plutonium also readily shifts valences between the +3, +4, +5 and +6 states. It is common for some fraction of plutonium in solution to exist in all of these states in equilibrium.

Plutonium is known to bind to soil particles very strongly, see above for a X-ray spectrscopic study of plutonium in soil and concrete. While cesium has very different chemistry to the actinides, it is well known that both cesium and many of the actinides bind strongly to the minerals in soil. Hence it has been possible to use ¹³⁴Cs labeled soil to study the migration of Pu and Cs is soils. It has been shown that colloidal transport processes control the migration of Cs (and will control the migration of Pu) in the soil at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant according to R.D. Whicker and S.A. Ibrahim, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2006, 88, 171-188. The most common form of concrete consists of Portland cement, construction aggregate (generally gravel and sand) and water. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Caesium, Cs, 55 Series Alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1(IA), 6, s Density, Hardness 1879 kg/m3, 0. ... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ... In general, a colloid or colloidal dispersion is a substance with components of one or two phases, a type of mixture intermediate between homogeneous solution and heterogeneous mixture with properties also intermediate between a solution and a mixture. ... The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the worlds first underground repository licensed to safely and permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste that is left from the research and production of nuclear weapons. ...

Biology

Plutonium in humans is transported in the transferrin based iron(III) transport system and then is stored in the liver in the iron store (ferritin), after an exposure to plutonium it is important to rapidly inject the subject with the calcium complex[11] of DTPA[12] [13]. This antidote is useful for a single one off exposure such as that which would occur if a glove box worker was to cut their hand with a Pu contaminated object. The calcium complex has faster metal binding kinetics than the zinc complex but if the calcium complex is used for a long time it tends to remove important minerals from the person. The zinc complex is less able to cause these effects. Transferrin is a plasma protein for iron ion delivery. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... The liver is the largest internal organ of the human body. ... Ferritin is a globular protein found mainly in the liver, which can store about 4500 iron (Fe3+)ions in a hollow protein shell made of 24 subunits. ... General Name, Symbol, Number calcium, Ca, 20 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 4, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 40. ... Diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid is an elongated version of EDTA. Categories: | | ... A glove compartment is a compartment built into the dashboard on the passengers side of an automobile, often used for miscellaneous storage. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ...