. . . just links from HayYoo.com and DanKostecki.com
Since the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth identified uranium in 1789, atomic number 92 has become one of the most troubling substances on the planet. It’s naturally radioactive, but its isotope uranium-235 also happens to be fissile, as Nazi nuclear chemists learned in 1938, when they did the impossible and split a uranium nucleus in two.
I was stunned when I heard this.
Neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor the major aircraft manufacturers publish information about which planes and helicopters contain DU components. As one industry insider told a reporter, “No one brags about DU.” However many wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011, McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed military C-130 all require the use of counter-balance weights for proper flight control. The Boeing 747 airplane program utilized depleted uranium for its first 550 aircraft built. The company obtained in excess of 200 tons of the radioactive material, and cast approximately 12,000 parts.
Mental_floss presented a list of products that contained radium before the dangers of radioactivity were understood. Food products and cosmetics are included along with the expected medical products.
STOCKHOLM — A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby. Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material. The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove. Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden’s Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police. “I have always been interested in physics and chemistry,” Handl said, adding he just wanted to “see if it’s possible to split atoms at home.”
The New York Times has 2 slide shows that explain what is happening inside the Japanese nuclear power plants. The problems are explained so simply that even I can understand.
Here is something else for the paranoid readers to be concerned about.
Do you carry kitty litter in your car to help provide traction in icy weather or to absorb oil? It’s slightly radioactive. Do you have tile or granite in your vehicle for a home improvement project? It has a relatively high radiation signature. Do you have a lot of bananas? They are also slightly radioactive. It’s pretty easy to understand why tile, granite, and kitty litter are radioactive. They contain low levels of minerals that naturally decay. Bananas are radioactive for a similar reason. The fruit contains high levels of potassium.
DUMMR.com 