Actinide

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Mercury News: After a year of fastidious planning, a microscopic sample of the ultra-rare radioactive element berkelium arrived at a Berkeley Lab. With just 48 hours to experiment before it would become unusable, a group of nearly 20 researchers focus...

Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have prepared an organometallic complex from 0.3 milligrams of berkelium-249.

The U.S. is ramping up construction of new "plutonium pits" for nuclear weapons

Scientists have synthesized a previously unknown isotope of uranium, uranium-241, that may start to disappear after just 40 minutes.

Originally wrote this 16 years ago as I was getting my masters degree. As my adviser often asked "Don't you want to learn normal things?" While PUREX may save us from being buried in nuclear waste it is not without peril, though it's more of the did-you-actually-think-this-through-before-you-started-pressing-buttons variety of peril.  It is vitally important to … Continue reading "Fun With PUREX"

Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercritical_water_reactor Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29940637 Points: 2 # Comments: 0

Physicists at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility have gained insights into the structure of atomic nuclei of fermium, a synthetic chemical element of the actinoid series with atomic number 100.

The 2011 accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant in Japan inspired extensive research and analysis that elevated nuclear energy into a standard bearer for safety. It also inspired a number of studies at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. Scientists want to look more closely at nuclear fuel materials to better understand how they will behave at extremely high temperatures.

Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primordial_nuclide Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33515981 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

We are all familiar with the arguments and tactics of the avowed opponents to nuclear power. However, various proponents espouse ideas, or tolerate inequities, which could prove equally detrimental to its future. Here are a few of the more toxic attitudes (classic list of ten):

Doesn't "organometallic sandwich" sound appetizing?

Molecular compounds with heavy elements, like americium, curium and others can now be synthesized in a streamlined and efficient way thanks to a new technique developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers.

Bacteria that feed on methanol are able to grow on certain rare earth elements as well as their radioactive relatives. These findings suggest a possible role for such bacteria in the decontamination of areas where actinides are spilled, or in the separation of lanthanides and actinides for analytical or preparative purposes, according to a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Philip Ball on the visual ordering of all the elements known to humankind—and how we might order them differently.

Article URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_fast_reactor Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33240368 Points: 2 # Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.av8n.com/physics/periodic-table.htm Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31939460 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

Do we really want to store nuclear waste on one of our Philippine islands?

Promethium, one of the rarest and most mysterious elements in the periodic table, has finally given up some crucial chemical secrets

The results of the Chi-Nu physics experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory have contributed essential, never-before-observed data for enhancing nuclear security applications, understanding criticality safety and designing fast-neutron energy reactors. The Chi-Nu project, a years-long experiment measuring the energy spectrum of neutrons emitted from neutron-induced fission, recently concluded the most detailed…

Scientists have discovered and synthesized a new isotope of highly radioactive uranium-241 with 149 neutrons, which may last only 40 minutes.