Re: AW: Dirty bombs

[RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 2/28/03 9:12:28 AM Mountain Standard Time, frits.vandorp@nagra.ch writes:


> Diffusion of cesium might be less of a problem than sorption of cesium.
>
> Cesium does sorb on many materials much stronger and by different mechanisms
>
> than sodium



This may sound hopelessly elementary, but...


Cesium chloride has very different properties from those of cesium metal, just as NaCl has very different properties from those of metallic Na.  CsCl will behave very much like NaCl -- probably slightly different solubility, since Cs is less electropositive than Na.  Mendeleev had it pretty much right.


The behavior of radiocesium and its compounds is for the most part indistinguishable from the chemical behavior of analogous stable cesium compounds.  


Ruth

Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

ruthweiner@aol.com