Radium (was: Fernald Leak)

[JMUCKERHEIDE@delphi.com]

Help! I've done something wrong here:

(roughly) 20,000,000 lb x 500 g/lb = 10 x 10^9 g ?
4.5 x 10^9 uCi / 10 x 10^9 g = .45 uCi/g ?  lower than dirt?

Tailings should be higher? Why is this Ra being recovered?

Thanks.

Regards, Jim Muckerheide
jmuckerheide@delphi.com

> Sandy Perle forwarded a news item to the list that contained the
> following:
> 
> >  The project is attempting to recover 4,500 grams of radium (slightly
> >  less than 10 pounds) from 10,000 tons of nuclear waste at the plant.
> >  Fernald, located 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati, has the largest-
> >  known supply of radium in the world.
> 
> How much radium is at Fernald, and is there an industrial or medical use
> for that much radium?
> 
> Rick
> 
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