Understanding the radioactivity at Fukushima

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1 Understanding the radioactivity at Fukushima A physics and engineering perspective Prof. Ben Monreal UCSB Department of Physics Q&A Panel: Ben Monreal Prof. Theo Theofanous, UCSB Chem E. Prof. Patrick McCray, UCSB History

2 Introduction to radioactivity Radiation hazards and health What escapes in a meltdown? Where does it go? How worried should we be?

3 Periodic Table of the Elements Chemistry Reference Sheet California Standards Test Sodium.99 Na 11 Atomic number Element symbol Average atomic mass* Element name Hydrogen 1.01 H 1 Lithium 6.94 Li 3 Sodium.99 Na 11 Potassium K Nickel Ni 8 Rubidium Rb 37 Rutherfordium (61) Rf 104 Molybdenum Mo 4 Germanium 7.61 Ge 3 1 1A A B 11 1B 1 B 13 3A 16 6A Key B A 15 5A 17 7A 18 8A 3 3B 4 4B 5 5B 6 6B Copper Cu 9 Cobalt Co 7 Helium 4.00 He Boron B 5 Carbon 1.01 C 6 Nitrogen N 7 Oxygen O 8 Fluorine F 9 Neon 0.18 Ne 10 Aluminum 6.98 Al 13 Silicon 8.09 Si 14 Phosphorus P 15 Sulfur 3.07 S 16 Chlorine Cl 17 Argon Ar 18 Calcium Ca 0 Scandium Sc 1 Titanium Ti Chromium 5.00 Cr 4 Iron Fe 6 Zinc Zn 30 Gallium 69.7 Ga 31 Arsenic 74.9 As 33 Selenium Se 34 Bromine Br 35 Krypton Kr 36 Strontium 87.6 Sr 38 Yttrium Y 39 Zirconium 91. Zr 40 Niobium 9.91 Nb 41 Technetium (98) Tc 43 Ruthenium Ru 44 Rhodium Rh 45 Palladium Silver Ag 47 Cadmium Cd 48 Indium In 49 Tin Sn 50 Antimony Sb 51 Tellurium Te 5 Iodine I 53 Xenon Xe 54 Cesium Cs 55 Barium Ba 56 Lanthanum La 57 Hafnium Hf 7 Tantalum Ta 73 Tungsten W 74 Rhenium Re 75 Osmium Os 76 Iridium 19. Ir 77 Platinum Pt 78 Gold Au 79 Mercury Hg 80 Thallium Tl 81 Lead 07. Pb 8 Bismuth Bi 83 Polonium (09) Po 84 Astatine (10) At 85 Pd Radon () Rn 86 Francium (3) Fr 87 Radium (6) Ra 88 Actinium (7) Ac 89 Dubnium (6) Db 105 Seaborgium (66) Sg 106 Bohrium (64) Bh 107 Hassium (69) Hs 108 Meitnerium (68) Mt 109 Magnesium 4.31 Mg 1 Beryllium 9.01 Be 4 Vanadium V 3 Manganese Mn 5 * If this number is in parentheses, then it refers to the atomic mass of the most stable isotope. Praseodymium Pr 59 Mendelevium (58) Md 101 Cerium Ce 58 Neodymium Nd 60 Promethium (145) Pm 61 Samarium Sm 6 Europium Eu 63 Gadolinium Gd 64 Terbium Tb 65 Dysprosium Dy 66 Holmium Ho 67 Erbium Er 68 Thulium Tm 69 Ytterbium Yb 70 Lutetium Lu 71 Thorium 3.04 Th 90 Protactinium Pa 91 Uranium U 9 Neptunium (37) Np 93 Plutonium (44) Pu 94 Americium (43) Am 95 Curium (47) Cm 96 Berkelium (47) Bk 97 Californium (51) Cf 98 Einsteinium (5) Es 99 Fermium (57) Fm 100 Nobelium (59) No 10 Lawrencium (6) Lr 103 Copyright 008 California Department of Education Uranium and Plutonium Iodine Cesium Tritium (hydrogen)

4 Different elements Boron 1 H % 4 Be + Beryllium 1 3 Li +1 Lithium Helium Hydrogen He 8.9% H1 1/ #10-9 % #10-7 % % Be5 Li4 - He3 1/+ H n s 1/ B #10-8 % p p B7 1.4 MeV (3/-) Be6 9 kev Li5 He H y 1/+ ECp,ECp",... EC EC He5 n B8 770 ms + EC" Be7 Li H4 - " B9 p" Be8 6.8 ev Li7 9.5 He ms H5 4 EC n Li8 838 ms + " B Be9 100 He7 H6 He ms n Li9 n Be E+6 y B MeV 3/- 1.5 MeV 3/- 160 kev (3/) d 3/ ms 3/ kev 3/- 3/- 3/- 3/ " Li10 1. MeV n He MeV (1/-) n B1 0.0 ms 1+ 3" Be s 1/+! 1 n n 0 n Different isotopes

5 Different elements Boron 1 H % 4 Be + Beryllium 1 3 Li +1 Lithium Helium Hydrogen He 8.9% H1 1/ #10-9 % #10-7 % % Be5 Li4 - He3 1/+ H n s 1/ B #10-8 % p p B7 1.4 MeV (3/-) Be6 9 kev Li5 He H y 1/+ ECp,ECp",... EC EC He5 n B8 770 ms + EC" Be7 Li H4 - " B9 p" Be8 6.8 ev Li7 9.5 He ms H5 4 EC n Li8 838 ms + " B Be9 100 He7 H6 He ms n Li9 n Be E+6 y B MeV 3/- 1.5 MeV 3/- 160 kev (3/) d 3/ ms 3/ kev 3/- 3/- 3/- 3/ " Li10 1. MeV n He MeV (1/-) n B1 0.0 ms 1+ 3" Be s 1/+! 1 n n 0 n Different isotopes

6 Different elements V40 V41 V4 V43 V44 V45 V46 V47 V ms 90 ms 547 ms 4.37 ms 3.6 m d (7/-) (+) 7/- 3/ V Vanadium * * 9.6#10-7 % EC EC" EC EC EC EC Ti38 Ti39 Ti40 Ti41 Ti4 Ti43 Ti44 Ti45 Ti46 Ti47 6 ms 50 ms 80 ms 199 ms 509 ms 63 y m (3/+) 3/+ 7/- 7/- 5/- Ti Titanium #10-6 % ECp EC ECp EC EC EC EC Sc36 Sc37 Sc38 Sc39 Sc40 Sc41 Sc4 Sc43 Sc44 Sc45 Sc ms ms ms h 3.97 h d (7/-) 4-7/- 7/- + 7/ Sc Scandium * * * * 1.1#10-7 % ECp,EC",... EC EC EC EC 100 Ca34 Ca35 Ca36 Ca37 Ca38 Ca39 Ca40 Ca41 Ca4 Ca43 Ca44 Ca45 50 ms 10 ms ms 440 ms ms 1.03E+5 y d 3/+ 3/+ 7/- 7/- 7/- 0 Ca Calcium % ECp ECp ECp EC EC EC K3 K33 K34 K35 K36 K37 K38 K39 K40 K41 K4 K43 K ms 34 ms 1.6 s m 1.77E+9 y h.3 h.13 m 3/+ + 3/+ 3+ 3/+ 4-3/+ - 3/ K Potassium * EC,! ECp ECp,EC",... EC EC % Ar30 Ar31 Ar3 Ar33 Ar34 Ar35 Ar36 Ar37 Ar38 Ar39 Ar40 Ar41 Ar4 Ar ms 98 ms ms ms s d 69 y m 3.9 y 5.37 m 1/+ 3/+ 3/+ 7/- 7/- (3/,5/) 18 Ar Argon % ECp,ECp,... ECp ECp EC EC EC Cl8 Cl9 Cl30 Cl31 Cl3 Cl33 Cl34 Cl35 Cl36 Cl37 Cl38 Cl39 Cl40 Cl41 Cl4 150 ms 98 ms.511 s s 3.01E+5 y 37.4 m 55.6 m 1.35 m 38.4 s 6.8 s 1+ 3/+ 3/+ + 3/+ - 3/+ - (1/,3/)+ 17 Cl Chlorine * * % ECp ECp,EC",... EC EC EC, 4.3 S6 S7 S8 S9 S30 S31 S3 S33 S34 S35 S36 S37 S38 S39 S40 S41 1 ms 15 ms 187 ms s.57 s d 5.05 m m 11.5 s 8.8 s 5/+ 1/+ 3/+ 3/+ 7/- (3/,5/,7/)- 16 S Sulfur % ECp,ECp,... ECp ECp EC EC P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P30 P31 P3 P33 P34 P35 P36 P37 P38 P39 P40 0 ms 60 ms 70.3 ms s.498 m 14.6 d 5.34 d 1.43 s 47.3 s 5.6 s.31 s 0.64 s 0.16 s 60 ms (3+) 1/+ 3+ 1/+ 1+ 1/+ 1+ 1/+ 1+ 1/+ 15 P Phosphorus % ECp ECp ECp,EC",... EC EC 100 n n n Si Si3 Si4 Si5 Si6 Si7 Si8 Si9 Si30 Si31 Si3 Si33 Si34 Si35 Si36 Si37 Si38 Si39 6 ms 10 ms 0 ms.34 s 4.16 s m 17 y 6.18 s.77 s 0.78 s 0.45 s 5/+ 5/+ 1/+ 3/+ 14 Si Silicon % ECp ECp ECp EC EC n Al1 Al Al3 Al4 Al5 Al6 Al7 Al8 Al9 Al30 Al31 Al3 Al33 Al34 Al35 Al36 Al37 Al38 70 ms 0.47 s.053 s s 7.4E+5 y.414 m 6.56 m 3.60 s 644 ms 33 ms 60 ms 150 ms 4+ 5/+ 5+ 5/+ 3+ 5/+ 3+ (3/,5/) Al Aluminum * * % ECp ECp EC" EC EC 100 n n Mg0 Mg1 Mg Mg3 Mg4 Mg5 Mg6 Mg7 Mg8 Mg9 Mg30 Mg31 Mg3 Mg33 Mg34 Mg35 Mg36 Mg37 95 ms 1 ms s s m 0.91 h 1.30 s 335 ms 30 ms 10 ms 90 ms 0 ms (3/,5/)+ 3/+ 5/+ 1/+ 3/+ 1 Mg Magnesium % ECp ECp EC EC n n n n Na18 Na19 Na0 Na1 Na Na3 Na4 Na5 Na6 Na7 Na8 Na9 Na30 Na31 Na3 Na33 Na34 Na ms.49 s.6019 y h 59.1 s 1.07 s 301 ms 30.5 ms 44.9 ms 48 ms 17.0 ms 13. ms 8. ms 5.5 ms 1.5 ms + 3/+ 3+ 3/+ 4+ 5/+ 3+ 5/+ 1+ 3/ + 3/+ (3-,4-) 11 Na Sodium * % p EC" 100 n n n n,!-n,... n,!-n,... n,!-n,... n,!-n,... n n Ne16 Ne17 Ne18 Ne19 Ne0 Ne1 Ne Ne3 Ne4 Ne5 Ne6 Ne7 Ne8 Ne9 Ne30 Ne31 Ne3 1 kev 109. ms 167 ms 17. s 37.4 s 3.38 m 60 ms 197 ms 3 ms 17 ms 0. s 1/- 1/+ 3/+ 5/+ (1/,3/)+ 10 Ne Neon % p ECp,EC",... EC EC n n n F14 F15 F16 F17 F18 F19 F0 F1 F F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 1.0 MeV 40 kev s m s s 4.3 s.3 s 0.34 s 59 ms (-) (1/+) 0-5/+ 1+ 1/+ + 5/+ 4+,(3+) (3/,5/)+ (1,,3)+ 9 F Fluorine #10-6 % p p p EC EC 100 n O1 O13 O14 O15 O16 O17 O18 O19 O0 O1 O O3 O4 O5 O MeV 8.58 ms s 1.4 s 6.91 s s 3.4 s.5 s 8 ms 61 ms (3/-) 1/- 5/+ 5/+ (1/,3/,5/)+ 8 O Oxygen % p ECp EC EC n n N10 N11 N1 N13 N14 N15 N16 N17 N18 N19 N0 N1 N N3 N4 740 kev ms m 7.13 s s 64 ms s 100 ms 85 ms 4 ms 1/+ 1+ 1/- 1+ 1/- - 1/- 1- (1/-) 7 N ±1±±3+4+5 Nitrogen % p EC3" EC " n n,!-",... n n n n C8 C9 C10 C11 C1 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C0 C1 C 30 kev 16.5 ms s 0.39 m 5730 y.449 s s 193 ms 95 ms 46 ms 14 ms (3/-) 3/- 1/- 1/+ 6 C 449t 4 364s Carbon % ECp,ECp",... EC EC n n n n n 3 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B1 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B18 B MeV 770 ms 0.54 kev 0.0 ms ms 13.8 ms 10.5 ms 00 Ps 5.08 ms (3/-) + 3/- 3+ 3/- 1+ 3/- - (0-) (3/-) 5 B Boron #10-8 % EC" p" " n n n Be5 Be6 Be7 Be8 Be9 Be10 Be11 Be1 Be13 Be14 9 kev 53.9 d 6.8 ev 1.51E+6 y s 3.6 ms 0.9 MeV 4.35 ms 3/- 3/- 1/+ (1/,5/)+ 4 Be Beryllium #10-9 % p EC " 100 " n n,!-n,... 1 Li4 Li5 Li6 Li7 Li8 Li9 Li10 Li11 Li1 1.5 MeV 838 ms ms 1. MeV 8.5 ms - 3/- 1+ 3/- + 3/- 3/- 3 Li Lithium #10-7 % p " n n n,!-n,... He3 He4 He5 He6 He7 He8 He9 He MeV ms 160 kev ms 0.30 MeV 0.3 MeV 1/+ 3/- (3/)- (1/-) He Helium % n n n n n 1 H1 H H3 H4 H5 H y 1/+ 1+ 1/+ - 1 H % n s 1/+ Hydrogen Different isotopes 4 Ti48 Ca d 7/ Sc d 7/- Ca K m 3/+ Ar m Cl s S s n P41 10 ms n Si40 Al39 6 V50 1.4E+17 y 6+ EC, 0.50 Ti Sc h 6+ K s (-) Ar s Cl ms n S43 0 ms n P4 110 ms n Si41 V51 Ca48 6E+18 y,!-!- 7/- 7/ Ti K s 1/+ Ar s Cl ms n S44 13 ms n P43 33 ms n Si4 8 V m 3+ K s (-) n Ar ms n Cl46 3 ms n S45 8 ms n P44 Ca s Ti s (3/)- V m 7/- Ti5 1.7 m K s (3/+) n Ar48 Cl47 n S46 P45 30 V s 3+ Sc s 5+ * Ca m 3/- 5.4 Sc m 7/- V d 7/- Sc s (7/)- Ti m 3/- Sc5 8. s 3+ Ca s (3/-) n K50 47 ms (0-,1,-) n Ar49 Cl48 S47 P46 Ti54 Ti55 T Ca5 4.6 s V s (7/-) Sc53 K ms (1/+,3/+) n Ar50 Cl49 S48 3 V56 Sc54 Ca53 90 ms (3/-,5/-) n K5 105 ms n Ar51 Cl50 S49 V S C K 3 ( n A C 3

7 Different elements Different isotopes

8 The reactor s job is to turn U into fission products. 95% of reactor power comes from the fission events themselves. 5% comes from the later fission product decays. Stable isotopes Uranium & Plutonium The products include many different elements. Fission products Fission Different elements Different isotopes

9 While it s running, the reactor s neutrons can undergo side reactions that make more unstable elements in the fuel... and in other materials. Neutron capture on fuel Minor Actinides Stable isotopes Uranium & Plutonium Fission products Fission Different elements Different isotopes Neutron capture on water, air, reactor materials Induced radioactivity

10 Radiation damage Alpha decay: common in minor actinides (damages every 10th atom it passes.) Beta & gamma decay: fission products (damages every 3000th atom it passes.) Rn 18 Po + 4 He 14 C 14 N + e - + ν

137 Cs in the fuel pond One gray = absorbing 1 billion

11 How much damage? One becquerel = 1 decay per second One curie = 37 billion decays per second. A measure of amount, as in There are 0 million curies of 137 Cs in the fuel pond One gray = absorbing 1 billion 38 U decays, or 10 billion 137 Cs decays, per gram of body mass One sievert = absorbing 0.05B 38 U decays, or 10B of 137 Cs, per gram of body mass A measure of dose = fraction of body s chemical bonds damaged. For fission products, gray = sievert

Radiation numeracy You are all getting irradiated right now. natural 40K natural Rn Natural backgrounds vary; 1.5-7 msv/y in your body: ~0. msv/yr. in the air: ~1 msv/yr. Moving to Denver?

12 Radiation numeracy You are all getting irradiated right now. natural 40K natural Rn Natural backgrounds vary; msv/y in your body: ~0. msv/yr. in the air: ~1 msv/yr. Moving to Denver? Add ~1 msv/yr. Are you a flight attendant? Add ~few msv/yr. Lesson: a few millisieverts dose is not worth worrying about at all. (but msv/h rate can add up.) Chernobyl Record R.F. Mould, IOP 000

13 Radiation and cancer Ionization DNA damage DNA damage changed cells changed cells cancer (rarely) (rarely) (rarely) Type of cancer Extra cases per people with 1000mSv doses Leukemia 3 Lesson: 1 Sv = 1000 msv is a risk you would go out of your way to avoid, like texting while driving. Breast 7 Thyroid 1.6 Lung 4 Stomach 5 Colon From John D. Boice, Natl. Cancer Institute in Health Effects from Exposure to Low-Level Ionizing Radiation, IOP 1996

14 Acute radiation sickness Lesson: >5 Sv = run for your life Extraordinarily rare. Slotin Incident : 1 Sv, victim died 9 d later Daghlian incident : 5 Sv, victim died 1 month later Goiania accident: 5 Sv/hr medical source got loose. 4 dead (all > 5 Sv), 15 hospitalized (all betwen 0.5 and 5 Sv). Chernobyl first-responders: dose rates of 10 Sv/hr in many areas; 30 dead, 00 hospitalized Many victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

15 Units in the news Last Defense at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese Workers Radiation Published: March 15, 011 close to the reactors was reported to reach 400 millisieverts per hour on Tuesday after a blast inside reactor No. and fire at reactor No. 4, but has since dropped back to as low as 0.6 millisieverts at the plant gate. Radiation levels on the edge of the plant compound briefly spiked at 817 microsieverts per hour but later fell to about a third that. we know 5000 msv = fatal so 400 msv/hr for would be fatal if you had 5000/400 = 1 hours 0.6 msv per hour 1000 msv = texting while driving 1000/0.6 = two months 8000 µsv/hr = 8 msv/hr

16 They meant millisieverts per hour NYTimes.com

17 Are low doses proportionally dangerous? Probably?? There is no case where a small extra risk was detectable. (Chernobyl area: thyroid cancer at 100 msv) added cancer rate added cancer rate?? 1mSv 100mSv 1Sv dose Sv???? years since dose Fukushima? Health effects of low-level exposure to ionizing radiation, ed. Hendee & Edwards, 1oP 1996

18 What s getting out? What s getting out? Minor Actinides Stable isotopes Uranium & Plutonium Fission products Different elements Different isotopes Induced radioactivity

19 Periodic Table of the Elements Chemistry Reference Sheet California Standards Test A H 1 Hydrogen Li Lithium 6.94 Na 11 Sodium K Potassium Rb Rubidium Cs 55 Cesium Fr Francium (3) A Be 4 Beryllium 9.01 Mg 1 Magnesium Ca Calcium Sr Strontium 87.6 Ba 56 Barium Ra Radium (6) 3 3B 1 Sc Scandium Y Yttrium La 57 Lanthanum Ac Actinium (7) Induced radioactivity 4 4B Ti Titanium Zr Zirconium Hf Hafnium Rf Rutherfordium (61) 5 5B 3 V Vanadium Nb Niobium 9.91 Ta 73 Tantalum Db Dubnium (6) 11 Atomic number Na Element symbol Sodium Element name.99 Average atomic mass* 6 6B 4 Cr Chromium Mo Molybdenum W 74 Tungsten Sg Seaborgium (66) 7 7B 5 Mn Manganese Tc Technetium (98) Re 75 Rhenium Bh Bohrium (64) Key 8 6 Fe Iron Ru Ruthenium Os 76 Osmium Hs Hassium (69) 9 8B 7 Co Cobalt Rh Rhodium Ir Iridium Mt Meitnerium (68) 10 8 Ni Nickel Pd Palladium Pt Platinum B 9 Cu Copper Ag Silver Au 79 Gold B 30 Zn Zinc Cd Cadmium Hg 80 Mercury Fission products 13 3A B 5 Boron Al Aluminum Ga Gallium In Indium Tl Thallium A C 6 Carbon Si Silicon Ge Germanium Sn Tin Pb 8 Lead A N 7 Nitrogen P Phosphorus As Arsenic Sb Antimony Bi Bismuth A O 8 Oxygen S Sulfur Se Selenium Te Tellurium Po 84 Polonium (09) 17 7A F 9 Fluorine Cl Chlorine Br Bromine I Iodine At Astatine (10) 18 8A He Helium 4.00 Ne 10 Neon Ar Argon Kr Krypton Xe Xenon Rn 86 Radon () * If this number is in parentheses, then it refers to the atomic mass of the most stable isotope. Ce 58 Cerium Th 90 Thorium Pr Praseodymium Pa 91 Protactinium Nd 60 Neodymium U Uranium Pm 61 Promethium (145) 93 Np Neptunium (37) Copyright 008 California Department of Education Sm 6 Samarium Pu 94 Plutonium (44) Eu 63 Europium Am 95 Americium (43) Gd 64 Gadolinium Cm 96 Curium (47) Tb 65 Terbium Bk 97 Berkelium (47) Dy 66 Dysprosium Cf Californium (51) Ho Er Tm 69 Yb 70 Lu minor Erbium actinides 71 Ytterbium Lutetium Holmium Es 99 Einsteinium (5) Fm 100 Fermium (57) Thulium Md Mendelevium (58) No Nobelium (59) Lr Lawrencium (6)

20 Periodic Table of the Elements Chemistry Reference Sheet California Standards Test A H 1 Hydrogen Li Lithium water soluble Na Sodium K Potassium Rb Rubidium Cs 55 Cesium Fr Francium (3) A Be 4 Beryllium Mg Magnesium B 0 1 Ca Sc Calcium Scandium Sr Y Strontium Yttrium Ba La Barium Lanthanum Ra Ac Radium Actinium (6) (7) 4 4B Ti Titanium Zr Zirconium Hf Hafnium Rf Rutherfordium (61) 5 5B 3 V Vanadium Nb Niobium 9.91 Ta 73 Tantalum Db Dubnium (6) 11 Atomic number Na Element symbol Sodium Element name.99 Average atomic mass* 6 6B 4 Cr Chromium Mo Molybdenum W 74 Tungsten Sg Seaborgium (66) 7 7B 5 Mn Manganese Tc Technetium (98) Re 75 Rhenium Bh Bohrium (64) Key 8 6 Fe Iron Ru Ruthenium Os 76 Osmium Hs Hassium (69) 9 8B 7 Co Cobalt Rh Rhodium Ir Iridium Mt Meitnerium (68) 10 8 Ni Nickel Pd Palladium Pt Platinum B 9 Cu Copper Ag Silver Au 79 Inert metals Gold B 30 Zn Zinc Cd Cadmium Hg 80 Mercury A B 5 Boron Al Aluminum Ga Gallium In Indium Tl Thallium A C 6 Carbon Si Silicon Ge Germanium Sn Tin Pb 8 Lead A N 7 Nitrogen P Phosphorus As Arsenic Sb Antimony Bi Bismuth A O 8 Oxygen S Sulfur Se Selenium Te Tellurium Po 84 Polonium (09) 17 7A F 9 Fluorine Cl Chlorine Br Bromine I Iodine At Astatine (10) Gases 18 8A He Helium 4.00 Ne 10 Neon Ar Argon Kr Krypton Xe Xenon Rn 86 Radon () * If this number is in parentheses, then it refers to the atomic mass of the most stable isotope. Ce 58 Cerium Th 90 Thorium Pr Praseodymium Pa 91 Protactinium Nd 60 Neodymium U Uranium Pm 61 Promethium (145) 93 Np Neptunium (37) Copyright 008 California Department of Education Sm 6 Samarium Pu 94 Plutonium (44) Eu 63 Europium Am 95 Americium (43) Gd 64 Gadolinium Cm 96 Curium (47) Tb 65 Terbium Bk 97 Berkelium (47) Dy 66 Dysprosium Cf Californium (51) Ho 67 Holmium Es Einsteinium (5) 68 Er Erbium Fm 100 Fermium (57) Tm 69 Thulium Md Mendelevium (58) Yb 70 Ytterbium No Nobelium (59) Lu 71 Lutetium Lr Lawrencium (6)

21 Healthy reactor: In Zircalloy casing: fuel + fission products + actinides In cooling water: activation products In steam: activation products In environment: practically nothing

22 Meltdown: In Zircalloy casing: fuel + fission products + actinides In cooling water: fission products like Cs, I, Tc In steam: fission products like Xe, Kr, Rn In environment: practically nothing

23 Three-Mile Island Meltdown + emergency venting: In Zircalloy casing: fuel + fission products + actinides In cooling water: fission products like Cs, I, Tc In steam: fission products like Xe, Kr, Rn In environment: practically Xe, Kr, nothing Rn

24 Fukushima Daiishi Meltdown + containment failure: In Zircalloy casing: fuel + fission products + actinides In cooling water: fission products like Cs, I, Tc In steam: fission products like Xe, Kr, Rn In environment: Xe, Kr, Xe, Rn, Kr, Cs, Rn I, Tc

25 Meltdown + fuel fire??? In Zircalloy casing: fuel + fission products + actinides In environment: fuel + fission products + actinides Briefly happened at Fukushima spent-fuel pools? (reports vary?) This is very bad but still not as bad as Chernobyl

26 Chernobyl no real containment vessel Core filled with graphite (fuel for huge fire) Reactor fissioning during explosions and fire (Fukushima reactors have now been off for 5 days)

27 wikipedia

28 Saving graces at Fukushima Reactor survived earthquake intact (!!!!!) Shut down properly First hour of containment saved factor of 5x First day: factor 0x Evacuation Biggest fire risk is 100- day-old spent fuel, i.e. 100x less radioactive than Chernobyl material

29 Nuclides to watch Nuclide Half-life Effect at Chernobyl 131 Iodine 8 days quick ~0.5 msv dose to everyone in Eastern Europe 137 Cesium 30 years Additional ~1 msv over 30y 90 Strontium 30 years 41 Plutonium 9 years Lower amount than Cs, but accumulates in bone Large doses near reactor site; easier to decontaminate Cooper, Randle, and Sokhi, Wiley 003

30 In case of fire... soot Nuclide Half-life 95 Zirconium 60 days 99 Molybdenum 3 days 103 Ruthenium 40 days 141 Cerium 30 days 140 Barium 14 days Worst concern to first responders. Weather may move soot plumes around (Chernobyl: bad plumes to 60km) This is what the stay indoors advisories are talking about. Soot in your driveway doesn t dose you; soot on your clothes does. Can be cleaned from streets/buildings. Agriculture, fisheries have to wait it out (or remove top 10cm soil)

31 Conclusions The worst general-public effects of Chernobyl were stress/fear; HUGE education/communication failure You have the information: count the millisieverts and decide how to respond My feeling: the worst-case radiation hazards from Fukushima are mitigatable and local (early evacuation + controls on 131 I in food) My feeling: the global radiation hazard is nil. The best way to reduce worldwide low-level radiation releases is... stop burning coal Save your energy for those affected by the tsunami and 50 plant workers at Fukushima

This resource contains three different versions of the periodic table, including a blank one for colouring!

Teaching notes This resource contains three different versions of the periodic table, including a blank one for colouring! It also contains tables of the Group 0, 1 and 7 elements with a few columns for