Terrifying

[Provost Harrison]

Well alpha-emitters aren't a problem - alpha radiation is easily attenuated. However it is a significant problem when ingested...

[Dauphin]

Yep, you end up burping helium for ages.

[Az]

btw,

Did anyone ask the question why the radiation comes particularly in the shape of He-4 nuclei, and nothing else?

[Dauphin]

Should I attach a p-n chart?

I'm sure the derivatives decay as beta and gamma.

[Provost Harrison]

Well I can't vouch for what the decay products are going to do, of course...

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Azazel


btw,

Did anyone ask the question why the radiation comes particularly in the shape of He-4 nuclei, and nothing else?

I think it is just a particularly stable nuclide...

[Az]

Should I attach a p-n chart?

I realize it's a chart with protons and neutrons, but what is it?

I'm sure the derivatives decay as beta and gamma.

Not really.

http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/rup.html

[Provost Harrison]

I think some of those steps may also result in gamma emission too...

[Az]

well of course, but It's a long way down to.... you guessed it, LEAD.

Anyway, this is a real interesting thing I noted: DU starts getting dangerous, but only after thousands of years...

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Azazel

Should I attach a p-n chart?

I realize it's a chart with protons and neutrons, but what is it?

Its a chart showing how atoms will decay, as they attempt to reach the stable corridor on the proton-neutron graph. Too many neutrons - beta decay, too many protons - alpha decay

I'm sure the derivatives decay as beta and gamma.

Not really.
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/rup.html

Sorry, I'm refering to decay chains and their derivatives.

http://www.atral.com/U238.gif

[Az]

Its a chart showing how atoms will decay, as they attempt to reach the stable corridor on the proton-neutron graph. Too many neutrons - beta decay, too many protons - alpha decay

Interesting.... still, you haven't answered my question: Why the rigidity, why Just He-4, and no H, or D, or T, or He-3? I mean, it would make much more sense to eject an He-3 to balance the "excess protons".

[axi]

But the problem with DU is that people actually DIE and get ILL because of it. There is alot of proof about this. The only ones that deny it are the weapons manufacturers and the US government.

And please stop saying that DU must be proven to be dangerous in order to get banned; when lives are at stake, it is the assumed safety that must be put under trial, not the assumed danger.

As for the Greek jails, we are not used to incarcerate people indefinitely without trial, like you do in Guantanamo, at least not since the (US-supported) dictatorship fell. And of course we don't play perverse pshychological games with our prisoners, like you do in Abu Ghraib. And btw, the death penalty was abolished here 30 years ago.

Still we don't claim to be the champions of the free world.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Azazel

Its a chart showing how atoms will decay, as they attempt to reach the stable corridor on the proton-neutron graph. Too many neutrons - beta decay, too many protons - alpha decay

Interesting.... still, you haven't answered my question: Why the rigidity, why Just He-4, and no H, or D, or T, or He-3? I mean, it would make much more sense to eject an He-3 to balance the "excess protons".

Oh, with you now.

It has to do with the stability of He-4 and the energy equation. He-4 requires less energy to create compared with He-3 or H , D or T. As you fill up a cup it leaks out of the lowest hole as it were.

[Az]

Yes, this is true, but this is not really a correct comparison. If the creation energies are different, that would just mean that the rates of creation are different ( Or so it is in chem. kinetics.... )

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Azazel
Yes, this is true, but this is not really a correct comparison. If the creation energies are different, that would just mean that the rates of creation are different ( Or so it is in chem. kinetics.... )

The gaps between energy levels are vastly different, tens and hundreds of MeV's against eV's or maybe keV's. You probably could compare rates of creation but you'd find that the ratios are so incomparable that its just not worth considering.