In reply to Kyle Mcallister's message of Sat, 29 Jan 2011 22:03:44 -0800 (PST): Hi, [snip] >I guess all I have to say is, all the problems of worrying about convincing >the public that the thing (whatever it is) is safe, lie ultimately in >educating them in science. [snip] That's an impossible ask. However all that is really important is that it not produce any long lived radionuclides. Prompt radiation can be adequately shielded, and short lived radionuclides decay away to nothing in a reasonable period anyway. They can be easily contained, or even used, if it is done appropriately. I suspect that it does produce some radionuclides with a medium to long life, if left operating long enough, and this may be the reason Rossi is paranoid about gamma spectra being taken (i.e. they would be identified). That would explain why he wants to service them every 6 months - it gives him a chance to replace the content with pure nickel again, so that higher elements don't get a chance to accumulate.
Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
