[ RadSafe ] High Level Radioactive Waste -- Shortest Half-Lived Isotopes

[Ruth Sponsler]

Pages 532-536 of _Introduction to Health Physics_ by
Herman Cember have a comprehensive table of fission
products and their activities.  May be in university
libraries or at Amazon or alibris.

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Health-Physics-Herman-Cember/dp/0071054618

One thing I learned from that table is that if you let
high-level fission products sit for 5 years, about
1/100 of the original activity is present.

Very important to remember with the hysterical "4.5
billion years" claims about DU is that there is plenty
of natural U out there *in the ground* that has that
4.5 billion year half-life.  It's even a small
component in the granite that forms the U.S. Capitol
and the beautiful Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains. 
Natural U is a part of nature, just like earthworms,
butterflies, beetles, diamonds, gold, fill for
roadbed, moss, Giant Sequoias, or house flies.  

The point is that humans have distinct biases about
our natural world.  For example, damonds, gold, and
Giant Sequoias are seen by human beings as more
valuable or positive than earthworms, beetles, house
flies, and road fill.  So it is with biases against
the presence of U someplace or other.

I think I'll start objecting to feldspar [a common ol'
rock that's good for roadbed] because of the 0.012
percent of K-40.  :-)


~Ruth
http://wesupportlee.blogspot.com/



--- Roger Helbig <rhelbig at california.com> wrote:

> Can any of you point me to a readily available
> source of information on the shortest half-lived
> isotopes and what constitutes high level radioactive
> waste?  Seeing the article on Polonium-210 got me
> thinking about ways to put U-238 (aka Depleted
> Uranium) more in the proper context .. there is a
> vet who claims his coffin will be radioactive for
> 4.5 billion years because he claims to be affected
> by DU poisoning.  I have a feeling he is a bit
> tetched in the head, especially from the way he
> shoves his views down your throat because he is a
> former Green Beret, but I would rather just put DU
> into context and compare it to the really hot and
> nasty stuff.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Roger Helbig
> 
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