ken@pyr.gatech.EDU (Ken Hall) (10/20/89)
Can anyone tell me whether the plutonium-257 aboard the last flight occurs naturally in the earth or if it's synthetic? -- Ken Hall - Department Manager | Bellnet: (404) 894-5559 Office of the Assoc. VP for Bus & Fin | Bitnet: khall@gtri01.gatech.edu Georgia Institute of Technology | Internet: ken@pyr.gatech.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gt0818a@prism.gatech.EDU (Paul E. Robichaux) (10/20/89)
In article <9396@pyr.gatech.EDU> ken@pyr.gatech.edu (Ken Hall) writes: >Can anyone tell me whether the plutonium-257 aboard the last flight occurs >naturally in the earth or if it's synthetic? > >-- >Ken Hall - Department Manager | Bellnet: (404) 894-5559 >Office of the Assoc. VP for Bus & Fin | Bitnet: khall@gtri01.gatech.edu >Georgia Institute of Technology | Internet: ken@pyr.gatech.edu 1. First, there's no such thing as Pu-257. Someone's pulling your leg. 2. Pu-238 is manmade; first discovered by Glenn Seaborg of Caltech, it is produced in breeder reactors designed specifically to manufacture it. It is not pleasant stuff at all. -Paul -- Paul E. Robichaux |"Collateral damage is the number of women Georgia Institute of Technology | and children you kill when attempting to do GT PO Box 30818; Atlanta, GA 30332 | something else."- Cap Weinberger. Internet: gt0818a@prism.gatech.edu | All opinions in this message are mine.
kellogg@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Rob -Not from Bloom County- Binkley) (10/21/89)
In article <9396@pyr.gatech.EDU> ken@pyr.gatech.edu.gatech.edu (Ken Hall) writes: >Can anyone tell me whether the plutonium-257 aboard the last flight occurs >naturally in the earth or if it's synthetic? > >-- >Ken Hall - Department Manager | Bellnet: (404) 894-5559 >Office of the Assoc. VP for Bus & Fin | Bitnet: khall@gtri01.gatech.edu >Georgia Institute of Technology | Internet: ken@pyr.gatech.edu >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a quote that might shed some light (or radiation) on the subject: "Beyond uranium there are other elements that do not naturally occur on Earth. They are synthesized by human beings and in most cases promptly fall to pieces. One of them, Element 94, is called plutonium and is one of the most toxic substances known. Unfortunately, it falls to pieces rather slowly." COSMOS by Carl Sagan Gary Kellogg kellogg@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov
tjoe@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Tjiong Tjoe) (10/21/89)
In article <2665@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt0818a@prism.gatech.EDU (Paul E. Robichaux) writes: >2. Pu-238 is manmade; first discovered by Glenn Seaborg of Caltech, it is Actually, I thought it was Glen Seaborg of U.C. Berkeley. Ed Wang
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (10/21/89)
In article <9396@pyr.gatech.EDU> ken@pyr.gatech.edu.gatech.edu (Ken Hall) writes: >Can anyone tell me whether the plutonium-257 aboard the last flight occurs >naturally in the earth or if it's synthetic? Well, it's plutonium 238, actually. And no, it's entirely synthetic. Very small traces of plutonium 239 do occur in nature, in uranium ores -- transmuted from uranium naturally, in the same way that it's done in reactors. The amounts are much too small to be of practical interest, though. The natural production rate is miniscule, and the half-life is short by geological standards. There might be a few atoms of natural plutonium 238 on Earth somewhere, in uranium or thorium ore, but its half-life is so short that there wouldn't be any detectable amount. -- A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (10/22/89)
In article <371@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov> kellogg@skipper.UUCP (Gary Kellogg - No relation to Tony the Tiger) writes: >"Beyond uranium there are other elements that do not naturally occur on Earth. >They are synthesized by human beings and in most cases promptly fall to pieces. >One of them, Element 94, is called plutonium and is one of the most toxic >substances known. Unfortunately, it falls to pieces rather slowly." > > COSMOS > by Carl Sagan Do remember that Chairman Carl is an expert only in certain aspects of planetary science and astronomy, despite his tendency to shoot his mouth off on many topics. There are better references than "Cosmos" on a topic like this. E.g., any decent encyclopedia, volume "P". -- A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu