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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.
Lung Kwang Pan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 124 | Number 3 | December 1998 | Pages 276-283
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2926
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A feasibility study of gross alpha counting in real environmental samples using the superheated-liquid-droplet (SLD) technique has been carried out. To find an alternative technique as a fast screening for gross alpha counting in environmental samples, various samples acquired from real groundwater and soil were mixed with the SLD emulsion. The intersections of alpha particles with the superheated liquid Freon-12 droplets trigger the vaporization of the droplet and form bubbles. The acoustic wave accompanying the bubble formation can be recorded by a piezoelectric sensor. The number of bubbles recorded represents a measurement of the gross alpha counting. These results are reasonable when compared with those obtained using the conventional methods. However, for practical application, the SLD fabrication and correlated counting process still need to be further modified.