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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
J. F. Latkowski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 956-959
Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963364
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In December 1999 and January 2000, a 40-cm-thick spherical shell of sprayable concrete (“gunite”) was applied to the exterior surface of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) target chamber. Glow-discharge mass spectroscopy has been used to determine the elemental composition of multiple gunite samples, which were collected at the time of application. These measured compositions are compared to the anticipated composition and both are used for neutron activation calculations. Contact dose rates are reported and implications for doses rates during operation and for the eventual facility decommissioning are discussed.