Free energy from radioactivity

Photoionization, where electrons are released by molecules following the absorption of energy from photons, has long been viewed as a non-radioactive means to ionize explosives in the vapor phase [39]. In recent years, two teams have sought to employ laser ionization with IMS for explosive determinations. A team at Implant Sciences Corporation has utilized a laser (or flash lamp) for sampling surfaces and for ionization of sample vapors in an IMS analyzer [40, 41]. In their approach, the sample is removed from a surface with an increased temperature from laser exposure. Gases (and presumably particulate matter) from over the surface are drawn into an IMS drift tube using a wall-free inlet vida supra). In the IMS drift tube, resonance multi-photon ionization by a laser is used to produce ions from the explosives. Their... 

In the field of radioactive waste management, the hazardous material consists, to a large extent, of actinides and fission products from nuclear reactors. Due to differences in scientific approaches and assumptions, there is a great deal of contradictory and unreliable thermodynamic data concerning aqueous speciation of these elements in the scientific literature, in the form of equilibrium constants, free energies and enthalpies. To fulfil the requirements of a proper modelling of the behaviour of the actinide and fission products in the environment, it is essential to establish a reliable thermochemical database by critically and comprehensively reviewing all available data in the literature. 

The fusion of hydrogen into helium provides the energy of the hydrogen bomb. The helium content of the atmosphere is about 1 part in 200,000. While it is present in various radioactive minerals as a decay product, the bulk of the Free World s supply is obtained from wells in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The only known helium extraction plants, outside the United States, in 1984 were in Eastern Europe (Poland), the USSR, and a few in India. 

Although many other types of nuclear reaction are possible as a result of high neutron fluxes, these two are the ones of prime importance in radioanalytical chemistry. The two principal requirements for a reaction to be useful analytically are that the element of interest must be capable of undergoing a nuclear reaction of some sort, and the product of that reaction (the daughter) must itself be radioactively unstable. Ideally, the daughter nucleus should have a half life which is in the range of a few days to a few months, and should emit a particle which has a characteristic energy, and is free from interference from other particles which may be produced by other elements within the sample. 

From 1940 to 1965, the principal source of these rare earth products was the mineral monazite (Th, RE orthophosphate) which fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one s point of view, contains 4-6% thorium. Today, there is essentially no market for thorium in the U.S. The expense of separating out thorium-free rare-earth products from monazite is not only excessive, but bound tightly in governmental red tape because of the mild radioactivity of the thorium. This situation does not apply in France, Brazil, or India, whose governments are wisely stockpiling all extracted thorium for future atomic energy needs. 

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