I wasn't trying to make any serious arguments in the first place, just having a tongue-in-cheek view of some things from a different direction.
Dick ----- Original Message ---- From: Marshall Dudley <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Fri, April 23, 2010 10:56:56 AM Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector Richard Goodwin wrote: > If a radioactive substance is moved from one place, e.g. in the ground, to > another place, e.g., in a smoke detector, how is that "adding" to it? > > All the radioactive matter on earth is somewhere right now. When we use it, > we move it from wherever it is to some place else. We don't create it. You are mistaken. Am 241 for example is not naturally occurring, it has a half life of slightly over 400 years. It is manufactured by the following sequence in a nuclear reactor: * U-238 + neutron => U-239 * U-239 by beta decay => Np-239 * Np-239 by beta decay =>Pu-239 * Pu-239 + neutron => Pu-240 * Pu-240 + neutron => Pu-241 This will decay both in the reactor and subsequently to form Am-241 which can then be extracted chemically. > > Actually, you could make an argument that by mining radioactive substances > and concentrating them into reactors, bombs, or other "products", you are > making the world a bit safer, since it is easier to avoid exposure to > reactors, bombs, etc, than to the same substances all spread out in the > ground. Nuclear reactors produce significantly more radioactive products than they consume. For instance a breeder reactor will take depleted non-radioactive uranium and convert it to radioactive plutonium. > > I never have understood quite why people get all wrapped around the axle > about some things. For example, we take aluminum out of the ground, where it > is one of the more abundant elements in the earth's crust, and we make beer > cans out of it. But if we then put that aluminum back in the ground, e.g., > by throwing empty beer cans into the dump, people get all in a lather about > pollution. Why? We are just putting the aluminum back where we found it. Because it is in a different form, it is bauxite or another mineral when we take it out, it is metal when we put it back. > > And "wasting water". People get all wound up about using too much water. > But it's not like it gets used up. It's still there after whatever we use it > for. And it comes back to us from rain, etc. Why all the furor? In some areas the water is being used faster than it can be replenished., ground water levels are dropping, and in some cases this is causing earthquakes, but of more concern is that at some point the level will drop to where there is insufficient water for the demand. This can be fixed once they figure out how to desalinate ocean water easily and efficiently. This can theoretically be done by chelating the salts to a magnetic substance (like an iron or cobalt cage) then pulling it from the water with a strong magnetic field, but the science of that has not been worked out yet since nano technology is still at its infancy. > > Yeah, I know, there can be local shortages, but overall the total amount of > water on earth doesn't really change, does it? No, but the amount of potable water does. Marshall -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Rules and Instructions: http://www.silverlist.org Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Off-Topic discussions: <mailto:[email protected]> List Owner: Mike Devour <mailto:[email protected]>
