#pitchblende

[gotankgo]

Pitchblende “Windshield Kiss”

• Eggs/Pitchblende split (1994)

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Radium To Remain In Private Hands,” Toronto Star. May 25, 1932. Page 9. ---- Government Declines to Nationalize Deposits of the Precious Substance ---- Special to The Star Ottawa, May 24 - Senator McRae’s efforts to have the radium deposits of Canada nationalized have not met with the approval of the government. The matter came up in the House yesterday and the minister of the interior intimated that the government was not disposed to interfere with the private interests in this natural resource. The deposits so far discovered are in private hands and there is no commercial plant in Canada for the reduction of the ore.

Recent deportation incidents came up when J. S. Woodsworth read a telegram from the wife of a man who had been arrested in Montreal and taken to Halifax. The minister of labor declared there was an indifferent percentage waging war against Canadian institutions. They would be given fair trial and all rights under the law, but the law would be carried out.

When the Indian affairs estimates were up Hon. Ernest Lapointe, former minister of justice, put in a claim that Quebec was entitled to $300,000 from the sale of Indian lands. The federal government said it was holding the money in trust for the Indians, but as soon as the lands were sold the proceeds belonged to the provincce, maintained Mr. Lapointe.

The highly contentious trio of insurance bills had rough sailing. There were many minor amendents. Mr. Lapointe wanted to know how the provinces viewed the bills, fearing they would be declared ultra vires. The minister of finance assured him the provinces viewed the measures with approval.

In the Senate Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux asked for information on the report that the Prince of Wales would open the Imperial conference. Hon. F. B. Black, acting leader, could give no information.

[spiritheyregone]

Uranium ore, the principal raw material of nuclear fuel

Source: Wikipedia

[glasratz]

A lump of uranium glass, engraved with a stylized atom and olive twig and the caption “UD Hamr”.

Uranové dole Hamr was a uranium mine near Hamr na Jezeře, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic. However, I have no idea why or when this piece was created. I have since seen blank uranium glass lumps in the same shape in the collection of Prof. Henning von Phillipsborn, but couldn’t find out more than that they were probably made in Czechosolovakia. I would be happy for any piece of information anyone can provide. 

[indieephemera]

Flyer for Codeine (and Swirles, Fudge, Pitchblende, Sissies) performance July 5, 1992 at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA.

While this flyer doesn’t mention the year, I am fairly sure it was 1992, as this show isn’t listed on the July 1991 Middle East calendar I have. And 1993 doesn’t feel quite right either, esp given that was the year that The Middle East first expanded and began to referring the reclaimed bowling alley space below as The Middle East Downstairs and the original performance space as The Middle East Upstairs.

While I did see Codeine the previous July, unfortunately I did not go to this show. (Though it would have had to have been the afternoon performance, as I was still under 21.) Great supporting lineup, with Boston faves Swirlies, DC-area art punks Pitchblende and Richmond, VA indie pop band Fudge.

[sleepydrummer]

Marie Curie, French physicist and chemist, in her laboratory, 1912

getty images

[sacredflamingart]

wip of pre-rockslide pitchblende

[earthstory]

How to build a nuclear plant

You’re looking at a sample of the mineral “pitchblende”. It also goes by another name, “uraninite”. This mineral and the elements that make it up are the key elements in allowing humanity to unleash the power of the atom. This week, another of the negative outcomes of that power has been back in the news; the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which melted down following the 2011 Tohoku great earthquake.

From an Earth Story perspective, I think the Fukushima disaster is a fascinating look at a lot of different types of science, including nuclear chemistry and environmental degredation. So, I’ve prepared a series of posts on how a nuclear reactor operates normally and what happened specifically at Fukushima through today. Here’s the first, hope you find it informative.

Uranium, mined from this mineral, is the key element in controlled nuclear fission. It has 2 isotopes, one with mass 235 and another with mass 238. They differ in the amount of neutrons in the nucleus.

Neither of these isotopes is stable, both of them undergo radioactive decay, but they take billions of years to decay away fully so they’re still around. But there is one other thing they do…fission.

Uranium 238 will spontaneously split into 2 elements, usually with masses around 100 and 135. When this isotope undergoes fission, it also releases several high-energy neutrons. It does this naturally with no outside input.

Uranium 235 does not spontaneously undergo fission, it only decays by losing an alpha particle (basically it shoots off helium). But, if uranium 235 is hit by a high-energy neutron, it will undergo induced fission; hitting it with a neutron causes decay.

A mix of these 2 isotopes does something really interesting. When a U-238 decays, it releases neutrons. If one of those neutrons hits a U-235, it causes that atom to fission, giving off more neutrons. Those neutrons can hit other atoms of U-235, causing a chain reaction; the neutron given off by one decay starts the next decay.

That sequence means…the more U-235 in a mixture, the more fission results. However, most of the U-235 in this solar system has already decayed away. Today, only 0.72% of natural uranium is U-235; that’s not enough to continue a chain reaction. Using isotope enrichment techniques such as centrifuges, those amounts can be increased to 10-20%, which are high enough to allow for chain reactions.

The more enriched the sample is in U-235, the more energy will be released, because a single fission reaction releases large amounts of energy. For applications in power plants, the more decays there are, the hotter the sample gets, and the more efficient power generation becomes. (I’m leaving plutonium out of this discussion but it can fill the same role).

But there’s a problem…the sample can get too hot. To produce a nuclear power plant, there needs to be some control, some way of slowing down or moderating the reaction. To do that requires some material that can absorb or slow down neutrons; take away some of the neutrons and the reaction rate slows down.

There are several materials that can work, but in theory, water is about as perfect of a material as you can find. When a neutron impacts a hydrogen atom, like those found in water, it can either bounce off and be slowed down or react with the atom to form deuterium. Placing uranium in water should allow for a stable reaction. If the reaction gets too hot, add more water; too cold, remove some water. And for power generation it works great, because hot water is what is used to power steam engines for electricity generation anyway! Other elements, such as carbon, have been used in previous versions as well, but a modern “light-water reactor” uses…light water, able to take up those extra neutrons.

Of course, there are a few downsides. First, the products of fission reactions are also radioactive themselves; some of the common ones are strontium, cesium, barium, and yttrium, and they all have too many neutrons because they’re created by a heavy uranium atom. Those elements can dissolve in the water, turning the water into nuclear waste.

The other potential problems come from balancing the reactor. Every nuclear power plant accident in history has in some way involved an imbalance between the heating and the material used for control. If not enough neutrons get absorbed, the nuclear material can heat up very quickly, and the combination of overheated material and water can lead to rapid boiling and explosions. In the next article, I’ll apply these details to the Fukushima Daiichi plant itself.

JBB

Image credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pitchblende371.JPG

Other details: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/u-isotopes.htm

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fisfrag.html