From owner-chemistry#* at *#ccl.net Fri Jun 21 16:30 EDT 1996 Received: from bedrock.ccl.net for owner-chemistry.,at,.ccl.net by www.ccl.net (8.7.5/950822.1) id QAA23596; Fri, 21 Jun 1996 16:30:29 -0400 (EDT) Received: from cressida.mis.amat.com for branch ^at^ acetsw.amat.com by bedrock.ccl.net (8.7.5/950822.1) id QAA02054; Fri, 21 Jun 1996 16:30:28 -0400 (EDT) Received: from cressida.mis.amat.com (daemon $#at#$ localhost) by cressida.mis.amat.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id NAA19410; Fri, 21 Jun 1996 13:16:51 -0700 Received: from romeo.mis.amat.com (romeo.mis.amat.com [152.135.118.219]) by cressida.mis.amat.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id NAA19406; Fri, 21 Jun 1996 13:16:50 -0700 Received: from cvd17 ([152.135.245.177]) by romeo.mis.amat.com with SMTP (1.37.109.16/16.2) id AA292589695; Fri, 21 Jun 1996 13:41:35 -0700 Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 13:28:59 -0700 (PDT) From: "Michael A. Branch" X-Sender: branch -x- at -x- cvd17 To: xxx Cc: chemistry*- at -*ccl.net Subject: Re: CCL:info requried In-Reply-To: <261 {*at*} trading.trading.khi.erum.com.pk> Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Length: 3937 Status: RO On Fri, 21 Jun 1996, xxx wrote: > MY QUESTION TO YOUR ANSWERS ARE AS FOLLOWS:- > > Q.1 WHAT HARM CAN URANIUM DO TO THE EXPOSED HUMAN BODY? Damage from uranium is typically in the form of ionizing radiation. This is electromagnetic energy that is strong enough to remove an electron from a molecule. Continued exposure to this type (beta, gamma) radiation can cause anywhere from sunburn to more serious skin diseases and even death. Genetic mutation is also possible (cancer, etc). > Q.2 WHAT DISCEASES ARE CAUSED BY RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS? Cancer is one, various skin diseases is another. The skin problems can be as minor as sunburn to very serious burns. Alpha emitters, which are radioactive element that decay by emitting an alpha particle, are particularly harmful if ingested. Radon gas is a good example. Radon decays to Radium, which is an alpha emitter. The radon has a chance, once it is breated in, to decay into radium. If this happens in the lung the radium (a solid) will stay in the lung, unless it decays to something else. The alpha emitter, once inside the body, damages cell tissue by bombarding it with the alpha particles. Alpha particles are He++ ions. The alpha radiation is not very damaging outside the body. The cell damage can turn to cancer. Gamma radiation is high energy and, if available at high enough energy levels, is dangerous. The same is true of beta radiation. Beta particles are electrons. Gamma radiation is analogous to microwave energy. It is caused by energetic decay of the excited nucleus. The energy levels are determined with quantum mechanics based on spin and angular momentum. These types of calculations require advanced mathematics. > Q.3 WHAT IS HEAVY WATER AND HOW IT IS MADE? Heavy water is deuterium oxide. It is the same chemical compound as regular water. In fact, one out of 1024 water molecules contain a deuterium atom in place of hydrogen! You drink deuterium with all water! Deuterium is hydrogen-2. It has one neutron and one proton in it's nucleus. It is not radioactive. Hydrogen has one other isotope, tritium. It is radioactive (half life 12 yrs) and is not naturally occuring. Tritum has one proton and two neutrons in it's nucleus. Heavy water can be made by isotopic distillation, which is what is done at Savanah River. Newer forms of separation, such as isotopic centrifuges, recently become available. The distillation scheme is probably most popular. Heavy water can not be separated from normal water with chemical procedures. > Q.4 WHAT IS PLOTONIUM? Plutonium is element 94. It is not naturally occuring. It is made in breeder reactors using uranium as fuel. It is very radioactive and very poisionous. The isotopes of interest are Pu-239 and Pu-241, with a primary use as a reactor fuel. Plutonium is used for high enrichment applications as it is easier to purify than uranium 235. > > SPELLING ERRORS ARE REGRETTED AS I AM POOR IN SPELLINGS I understand. I keep a small dictionary on my desktop. > > ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWERS > S.A.RAHEEM > > > -------This is added Automatically by the Software-------- > -- Original Sender Envelope Address: owner-chemistry&$at$&ccl.net > -- Original Sender From: Address: tradrep # - at - # trading.khi.erum.com.pk > CHEMISTRY -A_T- www.ccl.net: Everybody | CHEMISTRY-REQUEST -A_T- www.ccl.net: Coordinator > MAILSERV:~at~:www.ccl.net: HELP CHEMISTRY or HELP SEARCH | Gopher: www.ccl.net 73 > Anon. ftp: www.ccl.net | CHEMISTRY-SEARCH;at;www.ccl.net -- archive search > Web: http://www.ccl.net/chemistry.html > > I hope this helps, Mike --------------------------------------------------------- Michael A. Branch "I turn big problems into Process Engineer, HDP-CVD little problems." Applied Materials, Inc. (408) 563-0689 Santa Clara, CA 95051 mbranch |-at-| hammerhead.eecs.berkeley.edu ---------------------------------------------------------