The reasons for using plutonium in space missions are often unclear to those outside the mission planning community. Observers may see or hear only that the space mission is nuclear related, and that the power source uses plutonium.
(This article summarizes a paper presented by the author at the ASME 2011 Small Modular Reactors Symposium)
National Nuclear Science Week-a week-long celebration to focus local, regional, and national interest on all aspects of nuclear science-has nearly arrived! On January 23-27, events and activities will be held across the United States to recognize the benefits of nuclear science and technology and to introduce the next generation of scientists and engineers to the applications of nuclear technologies to everyday life. The National Nuclear Science Week website serves as the clearinghouse for next week's activities and is chock-full of great ideas for how to learn, teach, and celebrate nuclear science and technology.
An advanced reactor could be used to consume 112 tonnes of weapons grade material
Sixty years ago on December 20, scientists and engineers in Arco, Idaho,
December 15, 1852, was the birthday of French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel, who discovered a completely unknown property of matter in March 1896.
And wins a Nobel Prize
Sir James Chadwick, born 120 years ago on October 20, 1891, made one of the most significant discoveries of our age by proving the existence of neutrons.
September 12, 2011 marks the 114th year since the birth of Irène Joliot-Curie, daughter of the powerhouse early nuclear researchers Marie Curie and Pierre Curie.
The American Nuclear Society's Public Education Program will be sponsoring a one-day teacher workshop on Saturday, October 29, in Washington, DC. The workshop-Detecting Radiation in Our Radioactive World-is intended for science educators (including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, physical science, life science, environmental, and general science teachers) at the high school and middle school levels. The workshop will be held prior to the ANS Winter Conference, October 30-November 3, 2011.
Victor Francis Hess was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics for discovering "cosmic rays." Hess did some of his research in a very bold manner-here's some of his story.
Today is the 100th anniversary of the publishing of Ernest Rutherford's revolutionary article, "The Scattering of α and β Particles by Matter and the Structure of the Atom," which appeared in Philosophical Magazine (Series 6 21: 669-688). In the article, Rutherford explained his astonishing and profound discovery that atoms consist of a small and dense nucleus surrounded by electrons.
Happy Groundhog Day! This doesn't actually count as a holiday, but at the very least it is the one day each year that every American can devote to the contemplation of quantum physics. Can there be any bigger fun than that?