Marie Curie papers by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Under Section "Publication by Marie Curie" I did a quick overview of the papers in which Marie Curie and collaborators publish the existence of new elements polonium and radium. Both are very understandable (except the chemistry), and have some cute terminology. I also cited those papers on her Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marie_Curie&diff=1240252528&oldid=1238097626 Another good exercise in "old paper finding" + "Wikipedia markup/rules" as I looked at the Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences a bit.
This was kickstarted by YouTube recommending me the following good video:
Video 1.
The RaLa Experiment by Our Own Devices
. Source.
which led me into yet a quick nuclear physics binge. I shouldn't do this to myself. I also ended up writing some tentative answers on Quora:
Alexander Litvinenko by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Russian dissident by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Alpha particles have low penetration depth by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
They are stopped by:
  • by a few centimeters of air
  • a sheet of paper
  • the skin
Therefore, alpha emitters are not too dangerous unless ingested.
Gun-type fission weapons don't work with plutonium by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Gun-type fission weapons don't work with Plutonium-239 because of the presence of Plutonium-240 as an impurity which leads to fizzle.
Good mentions at: youtu.be/dgBDvnqMkT4?t=252
Gamma spectroscopy by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Breeder reactor by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
A nuclear reactor made to produce specific isotopes rather than just consume fissile material to produce electrical power. The most notably application being to produce Plutonium-239 for nuclear weapons from Uranium-238 being irradiated from Uranium-235-created fission.
Weapon grade Plutonium is cheaper than weapon grade Uranium by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Because you can generate plutonium-239 from uranium-238 in a breeder reactor, and then separate the plutonium-239 from the Uranium simply by using chemistry methods because you've created an element with different valence electrons.
Isn't it somewhat funny that it is easier to purify a synthetic element than a naturally occurring one?
Thorium-232 by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
GPHS-RTG by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Polonium-209 by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Polonium-208 by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
Plutonium-240 by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
This isotope shows up as an inevitable contaminant in Plutonium-239 for nuclear weapons, because it emits neutrons too fast and makes it harder to assemble the critical mass without fizzle.
It is the presence of this contaminant that made implosion-type fission weapon a necessity: Section "Gun-type fission weapons don't work with plutonium".
Wikipedia explains that Pu-240 is formed by Pu-239 Neutron capture:
About 62% to 73% of the time when 239Pu captures a neutron, it undergoes fission; the remainder of the time, it forms 240Pu.
so its presence is inevitable.
Plutonium-239 by Ciro Santilli 34 Updated +Created
This is the isotope that is produced for nuclear weapons by irradiating Uranium-238 with a neutron.
Plutonium-240 is a contaminant.

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