Nuclear%20Chemistry%20Chemical%20and%20Biological%20Warfare

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Nuclear ChemistryChemical and Biological Warfare
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The Basics of Radiation

• Radioactive materials have an unstable nucleus
  that release one or more particles or energy
• Nuclear radiation refers to the released energy
  and matter.
• A large part of the radiation you are exposed to
  comes from background radiation (from the sun
  solar and the earth terrestrial.
• Radiation is going through you all the time.

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A review of Isotopes

• Isotopes have a different number of neutrons than
  the more common (stable) version of the element.
• Isotopes are unstable and release radioactive
  particles.
• The type of particle released and the timing for
  its release is dependent on the element.

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Types of Nuclear Radiation the basics

• 1. Alpha Particles (a) release of a positively
  charged particle with a large mass. Do not travel
  far because of the size and can barely pass
  through a piece of paper.
• 2. Beta Particles (b) Negatively charged
  particle with very little mass. Travels faster
  and has more energy than alpha particles. Can
  travel through 3 mm of aluminum or 10 mm of wood.

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Types of nuclear Radiation - continued

• 3. Gamma Rays (g) Are not made of matter and do
  not have an electric charge. They consist of
  electromagnetic energy called PHOTONS. Gamma Rays
  have very high energy and can travel through 60
  cm of aluminum and 7 cm of lead.
• 4. Neutron Emission The release of a neutron
  from a nucleus. There is no charge which allows
  them to travel much farther. (can travel through
  a 15 cm block of lead). The process occurs during
  nuclear fission.

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Alpha Particles
Radium R226
Radon Rn222

88 protons 138 neutrons
2 protons 2 neutrons
86 protons 136 neutrons
The alpha-particle (a) is a Helium nucleus.
Its the same as the element Helium, with the
electrons stripped off !
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Beta Particles
Carbon C14
Nitrogen N14

e-
electron (beta-particle)
6 protons 8 neutrons
7 protons 7 neutrons
During this decay, one neutron changes to a
proton And an electron is released. This causes
Carbon 14 to decay to Nitrogen 14.
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Gammy Rays
Neon Ne20
Neon Ne20

10 protons 10 neutrons(in excited state)
10 protons 10 neutrons(lowest energy state)
gamma
A gamma is a high energy light particle. It is
NOT visible by your naked eye because it is not
in the visible part of the EM spectrum. Gamma
Rays can cause much more damage to living things
Than alpha and beta particles.
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Types of Radiation
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Importance to Us Half-Life

• Half-Life. This term refers to the amount of time
  it takes for half of the radioactive substance to
  decay. Each radioactive isotope has a different
  decay rate. Measuring half-life can be useful
  when dating materials.
• For example Potassium-40 decays to Argon-40, so
  the ratio of Potassium-40 to argon-40 is smaller
  for older rocks than it is for younger rocks.
• Scientists use Carbon-14 to date more recent
  materials like remains of an animal or parts of
  ancient clothing.

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Importance to Us Producing Energy
Fission and Fusion
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Fission

• Fission is the process of splitting heavier
  nuclei into lighter nuclei
• Fission releases Energy
• The mass equivalent of 1kg of matter is more than
  the chemical energy of 22 million tons of TNT
• Neutrons released by fission can start a chain
  reactiona continuous series of nuclear fission
  reactions.

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Fission Uses

• 435 Nuclear Power plants worldwide
• 1/6 of the worlds power is nuclear

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Nuclear Power in the U.S.
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Nuclear Power in the Northeast
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Problems with Fusion Nuclear Waste
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Nuclear Waste

• Nuclear Waste has been accumulating since the
  mid-1940s and is currently in temporary storage
  at 131 sites in 39 states
• Nuclear waste remains highly radioactive for
  thousands of years.
• It will still be potentially harmful to humans
  long after the manmade containers holding the
  waste have disintegrated.

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Most Used Current Nuclear Waste Sites
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Future Plans for Nuclear Waste Yucca Mountain

• Will become the nation's first long-term geologic
  repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level
  radioactive waste that is currently stored at 126
  sites around the nation.
• Yucca Mountain is located in a remote desert on
  federally protected land within the secure
  boundaries of the Nevada Test Site in Nye County,
  Nevada. It is approximately 100 miles northwest
  of Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Fusion A possible energy source for the future

• Fusion is the production of a thermonuclear
  reaction in a gas discharge
• Called fusion because it is based on fusing light
  nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes to release
  energy, similar to that which powers the sun and
  other stars.
• A vast, new source of energy
• Fuels are plentiful (an isotope of hydrogen in
  ocean water)
• Inherently safe since any malfunction results in
  a rapid shutdown
• No atmospheric pollution leading to acid rain or
  the greenhouse effect
• Sunlight is energy released from fusion reactions
  in the sun.
• The price of fusion is estimated to be equivalent
  to that of fossil fuels
• Fusion can give us energy for millions of years

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Fission vs. Fusion

• European Safety and Environmental assessment of
  Fusion Power (SEAFP) team in 1992 established
  Fusion as a very clean and environmentally
  friendly source of energy for the future with
  very good inherent safety qualities, there are no
  chain reactions and no production of actinides
• The only waste products are helium, and toxic
  waste that is contained within the chamber and is
  not long term
• Fusion produces no climate-changing or
  atmosphere-polluting emissions
• With Fission, relatively low environmental issues
  when costs are paid to maintain an
  environmentally friendly work area, however these
  costs are so high that it would be a problem in
  second and third world countries. There is also
  the problem of a malfunction, worst case scenario
  can be very severe as opposed to the shut down
  process of fusion.
• At this time, Fusion reactors cannot be
  productively made.

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Importance to Us Nuclear Medicine
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Nuclear Medicine

• The process of using radioactive isotopes for
  detecting disease generally using gamma rays
  (called radioactive tracers)
• Also includes the use of radioactive isotopes
  (usually beta decay) as treatment for disease
  (like cancer)

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Importance to Us Radiation Exposure

• You are exposed to radiation everyday
• Background Radiation nuclear radiation that
  arises naturally from cosmic rays and from
  radioactive isotopes in the soil and air
• We are adapted to survive low levels of this
  natural source of radiation
• Radiation is measured in rems or millirems

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Radiation Exposure

• There are many occupations where people are
  exposed to higher levels of radiation.
• Nuclear radiation, health physics, radiology,
  radiochemistry, X-ray technology, MRI
• It has been decided that these occupations can be
  exposed to 5000 millirems annually plus regular
  background radiation.
• Exposure amounts will also depend on where a
  person lives.
• Exposure may increase based on some day-to-day
  activities as well

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Examples of Everyday Radiation Exposure

• Average annual radiation dose is 360 millirems
  per person. 300 from natural sources.
• Sleeping next to someone for 8 hours 2 mrems
• Exposure comes from the naturally radioactive
  potassium in the other person's body
• Coal plant, living within 50 miles .03 mrem
  There is much thorium and uranium in coal.
• Living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant
  adds .009 mrem of exposure. Both figures are
  considered extremely low levels.
• Living in a masonry home 7 mrems Stone, brick
  and adobe have natural radioisotopes in them.
• Living on the Earth 200 mrems We are living in a
  sea of radon. It is made from the natural decay
  of uranium and thorium in the soil, left over
  from the creation of the solar system. Radon is a
  rare gas that diffuses out of soil and into the
  air. It contributes more than half of our
  background

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Examples of Everyday Radiation Exposure

• Smoking up to 16,000 mrems The tobacco leaf acts
  like the absorbing surface of charcoal in a radon
  test kit. It collects long-lived isotopes of
  airborne radon, like lead-210 and polonium. Small
  portions of the lungs can get relatively whopping
  doses, compared to background levels.
• Porcelain teeth or crowns tenths of a rem
  Uranium is often added to these dental products
  to increase whiteness and florescence.
• Air Travel 1 mrem per 1000 miles 30,000 feet
  above the ground you're closer to the ionizing
  radiation (high-energy gammas well as particles)
  from the sun.
• Grand Central Station, NYC 120 mrem for
  employees Its granite walls have a high uranium
  content.
• Brazil Nuts This is the world's most radioactive
  food due to high radium concentrations 1000-times
  that of average foods.The US Capitol Building in
• Washington DC This building is so radioactive,
  due to the high uranium content in its granite
  walls, it could never be licensed as a nuclear
  power reactor site.

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Issues from Increased Radiation Exposure

• 1500 increase in incidence of testicular and
  ovarian cancer in children on Navaho reservation
  in uranium mining area
• 500 increase in bone cancer in children affected
  by uranium
• 250 increase in leukemia (all ages) in the
  Navaho population
• 200 increase in each of the following non-cancer
  effects miscarriage, infant death, congenital
  defects, genetic abnormalities, learning
  disorders.

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Issues Continued

• 400 increase in leukemia incidence in the
  population living downwind of the Pilgrim nuclear
  power reactor in Massachusetts in the first 5
  years after fuel was know to have leaked excess
  radioactivity.Baseline Disease in population
  before and after Pilgrim radioactive releases and
  comparison to upwind population.
• 300400 increase in lung cancer in the general
  population within the plume of the Three Mile
  Island accident releases
• 600700 increase in leukemia in the general
  population within the plume of Three Mile Island
  accident releases Baseline Disease in population
  upwind (out of the radiation plume path) is
  compared to disease in population downwind (in
  the pollution plume.)
• 50 increase in childhood cancer incidence in the
  Three Mile Island area for each 10 millirem
  increase in radiation exposure per year.

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Issues Continued

• 500 increase in leukemia among Utah nuclear bomb
  test Downwinders
• 121 increase in thyroid cancer incidence in the
  same group
• 200 increase in breast cancer
• 700 increase in bone cancer
• a greater then 120 increase in thyroid cancer in
  those who drank milk laced with Iodine-131 from
  atmospheric nuclear weapons tests
• 200 increase in lung cancer in women who
  received radiation treatments for breast cancer
• 6696 increase in early cancer deaths due to
  background radiation

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Chemical Warfare

• The use of chemicals as a weapon.
• This type of warfare is unique in that it does
  not just depend on the initial blast (and radius)
  for destruction, but relies on the chemical to
  infiltrate an area and cause increased number of
  casualties.

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History and Use of Chemical Weapons
Agents Dissemination Protection Detection
1900s ChlorineChloropicrinPhosgeneMustard gas Wind dispersal   Smell
1910s Lewisite Chemical shells Gas maskRosin oil clothing  
1920s   Projectiles w/ central bursters CC-2 clothing  
1930s G-series nerve agents Aircraft bombs   Blister agent detectorsColor change paper
1940s   Missile warheadsSpray tanks Protective ointment (mustard)Collective protectionGas mask w/ Whetlerite  
1950s
1960s V-series nerve agents Aerodynamic Gas mask w/ water supply Nerve gas alarm
1970s
1980s   Binary munitions Improved gas masks(protection, fit, comfort) Laser detection
1990s Novichok nerve agents      
Chemical warfare technology timeline
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Biological Warfare

• Introduces toxins such as viruses into an area
  with the intention of killing or seriously
  injuring an area.
• Examples include poisoning water systems,
  spraying chemicals in the air