Comments for Special Nuclear Material

Comment on Nuclear Collection (Part II) by charles small

charles small — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:42:40 +0000

you seem to have overlooked the radio activity of fiesta ware, it was a popular table ware back in tht 30’sl red and orange were the most radio activel Googleize them for more information.

Charles Small, P.E.\\Westford, MA,

Comment on Nuclear Collection (Part II) by charles small

charles small — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:36:55 +0000

you seem to have overlooked fiesta ware, pottery tableware of saturated colors –red and orange
are known to be highly radioactive,

one can frequently find them at yard sales;

googleize: fiesta ware radio active

Charles Small, P.E.

Comment on 2142 AD by Carl Willis

Carl Willis — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:34:54 +0000

Hi Dan,

Not sure I can help, as your inquiry relates to a technology outside my areas of expertise. So with regard to VASIMR, I could only suggest that you contact someone actively involved.

My own (very tangential) connection to space propulsion is limited to some contacts in the Farnsworth fusor community who think that device is potentially useful as an engine. And a little bit of classwork: as a design class project in OSU’s nuclear engineering program, I studied what I called “direct nuclear propulsion,” i.e. exploiting the momentum of fission fragments produced in a fissile “thrust foil” that was parasitic on a powerful fast reactor core. I designed the reactor and some other students studied the specific impulse, the thermal system, shielding, and other aspects of the design. This was during the days when JIMO was still on the table and would have likely carried a nuclear-electric power plant. The idea of “direct nuclear propulsion” is nominally pretty silly, but made an entertaining and original academic class project.

Good luck with your work, sounds like fun.

-Carl

Comment on 2142 AD by Daniel Sterling SAmple

Daniel Sterling SAmple — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:51:59 +0000

Carl,I am not an expert on ion plasma propulsion for spacecraft, but if we were to begin building a spacecraft for a manned mission to Mars,right now, today, it would incorporate but conventional rockets and ion plasma propulsion. How far along is the VASIMR? I really prefer a non-cryogenic fuel, preferably a solid, or at least found naturally in a solid state. What do you think of using Radium? Dan P.S. Much of our CYRUS SPACE SYSTEM has been incorporated into the Augustine report.

Comment on Refining Uranium by the PUREX Process by Andy

Andy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:44:56 +0000

Well, what can I say? Superb! You shoud also share techniques of thorium extraction and purification as well!

Good work,

Andy

Comment on For Sale: Uranium Ore by Pier

Pier — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:58:11 +0000

ok you don’t ship internationally….

Comment on For Sale: Uranium Ore by Pier

Pier — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:55:33 +0000

Hi first of all do you ship internationally?
even so pleas mail me!
i am interested a lot! check my video on YT
i am the Chemchef

Comment on Hand-Cranked X-Rays by carlwillis

carlwillis — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Hi Ryan! The II tube is a Precise Optics PS-61 that I obtained on eBay, new in the box. I actually see lots of these on eBay, though most are heavily used and have screen damage. For simplicity, I don’t use a mirror, and the glass in the camera lens is sufficiently thick to prevent a lot of noise. A longer source-to-detector distance indeed improves the uniformity of the field at the expense of intensity. One of these days I may post some other pics made with this II—some autoradiographs of radioactive items, some radiographs made with Am-241, etc. How did your dissertation proposal go?

Comment on Hand-Cranked X-Rays by Ryan Best

Ryan Best — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:24:11 +0000

Your little image intensifier is almost more interesting than the x-ray source. One question- Why is the camera mounted in line with the II instead of off to the side with a mirror as is typical with fluoroscopic units? Taking the camera out of the path of the x-rays could reduce noise. I’m not sure how much exposure reaches the camera, though, so it may be insignificant.
Does the image brightness becomes more uniform when the x-ray source is moved farther from the II? Meaning- Is the center brightness due to the image intensifier or the inverse square law?

Cool trick

Comment on Uranium Chemistry by Petros Nikolopoulos

Petros Nikolopoulos — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:17:09 +0000

Hi Carl ,

I used to live in Los Angeles,CA but now in Sydney,Australia.What safety clothing,masks etc do you use for this ?

Also,I don’t see ammonium uranyl chloride ? Do you make t and what is it’s modern formula?

Thanks ,

Peter