I just randomly discovered your channel and am blown away. I think I've watched about half of the videos and I'm really looking forward to the rest. While I think I have a fairly comprehensive understanding of nuclear physics, to see an expert presenting unbiased content to the public that is understandable to the layman is a real treat to the soul. Monday's payday, so I'll at least photon on the ko-fi and in the meantime subscribe and upvote. I'm just not able to express (in english) how much I appreciate what you're doing.
Elina Charatsidou does well to explain the complexities of nuclear physics clearly without ever coming across as condescending. I especially appreciate her humor. I leave each video enriched with knowledge ⚛️. Elina is classy, sassy, inquisitive, enthusiastic and just.so… huggable 😊.
How do nuclear spills get handled in a nuclear lab? Like let's say you have a vial full of radioactive powder and you accidentally drop it on the ground and now there's powder on the floor, how do you clean that?
Bravo Elina! Very educational... Probably my favorite video of yours. I liked the question about moving materials in and out of the glove box and replacing the gloves. I wondered how that was done. I would love to see a video just on that.
The reason depleted uranium (DU) keeps being brought up is that it is used in weapons (like artillery shells with DU rods) However, its use in the artillery shells has nothing to do with radioactivity - it's just a very dense material, making the shell much heavier, and thus able to do more piercing damage on impact at the same velocity It's also used for radiation shielding, actually, much like lead
Density is not all. DU is brittle and flammable. On impact, a DU armor penetrator will fracture in such a way that the projectile becomes sharper. The heat of impact will ignite the uranium dust inside and outside of the armored target. Uranium is chemically toxic in addition to its radioactivity; and it creates more dust than softer metals. Modern Battlefields are generally poisoned zones, but DU is arguably worse than most. Because it is a highly political subject, I wouldn't trust any information on exactly how much worse it is.
A simple question. How do your (lovely) nails and gloves get on together? I could see them being a point of failure. Thank you for your informative videos delivered in such a friendly way.
The fast that ppl even asked about the zip bag is so funny and interesting ~ I love your lab Elina and pls pls always wear gear when you need to (and when you don’t lol) I just want you to stay safe ❤ always
Thanks for letting we everyday people to peer into what you do. I hope the work you and your colleagues do bring us closer to a future where energy is plentiful and clean. Emotionally I like the idea of powering our world with wind, solar and other renewable technologies, but I think our complex and chaotic world needs more options to address needs across the whole globe and potentially other planets too.
The problem with depleted uranium ammunition for tanks, etc. is that, unlike natural uranium, it isn't buried. It's just sitting there on the ground after the war, and as Elina said, Uranium is not *harmless*. Probably the worst effect is that it can get into groundwater, which normally does not contain natural uranium. That water then goes into irrigation, etc.
Ground water and soil. And even if it is not "dispersed" in the air as atomic bomb, it pollutes areas where it was dropped. Exactly what US did in my country.
Very well done Q and A session. One advantage of UN fuel would be that when the N absorbs a neutron it will become 14C which would form the carbide allowing the fuel pellet to maintain mechanical integrity 🤔
This looks like a cool lab to work in! It kind of reminds me of my chemistry lab in high school. We had the fume hood as well as some gas intake pumps (for heating up things or whatnot), sinks, decontamination shower, goggles box, gloves, etc. Same principles when it comes to safety. As long as you know what material you are handling, and how to handle it, you'll be fine. Just don't mess around.
@Alan Hilton I'm an enthusiast, June 1st 1965 ORNL went critical with the MSR. You can't make weapons grade Pu-239 from the U233 thorium cycle. They wanted all bombs they could get. MSR canceled. It would take a decade or more to ramp up to displace fossil fuels on the grid. Fine Create tens of thousands SMRs in the meantime . Certainly in less than 20 years We can get electric transportation. We have hundreds of years of fossil fuels available. The nuclear boogeyman sold to the public by Hanoi Jane in 79 killed nuclear power in the US. Since the invention of fire we've only had access to three sources of energy. The energy stored in fossil fuels from the sun the energy we receive from the sun and the nuclear energy stored from the stars. The last one is the one for me.
How does lead or metal cooling work in a reactor ? Same as salt ? You handle, not so dangerous metal, with far more control and safety, than viruses and bacteria is handled. 👍 Very nice to know you are safe 🤗
I was wondering in the last video, and it didn't come up in this one: what about your hair? When handling the powdered materials, wouldn't it be advisable to wear hairnets, or some other kind of head-gear? I have a feeling that the hair is a perfect place for small particles to settle on, and then get back into the air later, like when taking off the mask brushes it.
Isn‘t uranium still really dangerous if depleted due to chemical toxicity? Also, would love to see a video about spent nuclear fuel recycling - that seems to be a fairly obvious solution to the whole waste problem, and you mentioned France does it in the last video - but why isn‘t it talked about more in the context of dealing with nuclear waste?
There is no solution for recycling nuclear fuel, they still are leaving it sealed in barrels and in underground concrete bunkers. Some can be reused again as fuel or in weapons as they are doing it actively. For now every solution for recycling the fuel will contaminate something. There is already a video about that from some youtubers.
Na, depleted uranium isn’t particularly dangerous 🤗 You are 100% correct that uranium is toxic but it really needs to be in a water soluble form to get into the body and do any real damage that way. The metal, oxides and diurinates are relatively safe as they have low solubilities in water 🤗 Think of it like lead. A chunk of lead metal isn’t really dangerous by itself but lead acetate is real nasty due to being water soluble as it can mix with your sweat then absorb through your skin etc. All that said, I still wouldn’t recommend messing around with it unless you understand the risks! Hope that helps 🤗
To become a nuclear physicist you must have a degree with physics and maths as major subjects, plus post graduate qualifications in physics. Very interesting but very theoretical. Jobs are a bit scarce nowadays, pay good but not great. I suggest you also consider nuclear engineering. More opportunities and also more practical. For that you typically do a standard engineering course (usually mechanical engineering, but can also be chemical or electrical) and then specialise in nuclear applications post graduate. Either way, it is a fascinating and rewarding career, but the preparatory studying is hard work.
When I first went to work at Hanford in 1991 there was an old-timer there, who was rumored to have been able to tell the difference between uranium and other yellow powders by taste. I don't think he actually did it since the last time I saw him he was 82 years old. It doesn't take very much uranium to give you very dangerous kidney stones.
I knew a bloke who ate a load of uranium and he just got sicker and sicker. Eventually we had to barium. PS the doctors said they couldn’t do anything to helium.
I second this. I can't remember if the glasses contained boron or not. It has been a while since I came across those papers while looking for other topics around glass.
Fun fact: at the times before people have realized the toxicity of lead, lead acetate was widely used as a sweetener. I guess, uranium acetate would be less toxic. And may be even sweeter.
Regarding the issue of 500uSv on the Geiger counter. I have not had a chance to play with Ranger EXP with pancake tube, and dosimetry is not really my area of expertise, so someone needs to enlighten me on this one. Does this device have a software switch that tells the device it is now measuring 4.2MeV alpha particles and should use some alpha specific calibration profile and not the 662keV CS-137 one? If not, then using it in dose rate and acc. dose mode is only good to look for hot spots or getting the general idea of the sample activity, because those calculated uSv numbers will be completely unrealistic. Unless this device has alpha specific calibration profile, it should rather be used in raw CPS/CPM mode. Anyway, even if there is special calibration profile, such dosimetry against alphas seems pointless as we assume external exposition in this kind of measurements and alphas are pretty much harmful only if their source is ingested.
You are completely correct. Most Geiger counters are not able to determine the energy of the particle or photon, only proportional counters can do that. I think that in this case it would be more accurate and interesting to measure the gamma radiation emitted by the sample with a gamma spectrometer, a device that is capable of determining the energy of the received photon. Like you said, the alpha particles are not really relevant for determining the dose rate.
Hello Elina . Regarding depleted Uranium . The united States Army uses depleted unranium munitions for it's tanks and some autocannons. ( taking advantage of the material density as the penetration of the proyectile is based on kinetic energy ) . - Could you explain a bit the dangers (if any) that these proyectiles produce once fired ? - They also claim that the uranium projectile "sharpens" on impact , unlike a steel or tungsten rounds. Is this possible based on the knowledge you have on the material ? Thank you very much.
Thanks, iam interested in Nuclear Energy and you are putting afford & using your job into a use that others can kind of experiment it apon on doing your job.
Can bacteria or viruses harmful to humans survive on the surface of uranium, or is it self sterilizing? If so, could it be used to make surgical tools that don't need to be put through an autoclave?
Uranium-238 is an isotope of uranium; each uranium atom contains 92 protons and however-many neutrons. Depleted uranium is a mix of isotopes which is notably lacking in U-235. Natural uranium (NU) contains 99.3% U-238 and 0.7% U-235 (and a trace of U-234). In the enrichment process you take, say, 1000 kg of NU and sort the atoms into two batches: • One contains 100 kg, including 5 kg of U-235 (5%) -- that's the low-enriched uranium (LEU) that can be used as reactor fuel. • The other contains 900 kg, but only 2 kg of U-235 (0.2%) -- that's the depleted uranium (DU).
I still wonder why "nuclear waste" is considered "waste" if it's so dangerous. If it's dangerous, it's doing things, if it's doing things, then we can extract power from it, no? Or can't you create fission with waste? Why not?
I recall many years ago seeing a graphic, it may have been in my physics book, that showed the penetrating power of the different types of ionising radiation. If I recall correctly alpha particles were shown being mostly stopped by a sheet of paper or the outer layer skin, beta by aluminium foil whilst gamma would get through a thick layer concrete. Is that a fair comparison? Obviously strength of source would presumably be a factor as well, if something stops 99% then a source 100 times as powerful will deliver the same dose. Regarding what uranium tastes like, wouldn’t chemical toxicity be a big factor as well as radiological risk? Heavy metals tend to be really bad for living systems, I recall being told that if you’re ever directly exposed to plutonium, don’t worry about the radiation as the chemical toxicity will kill you long before the radiation does.
Don't think I'll be trying that. Do have a question ... not researched it yet ... Our foods ... they contain minerals (iron, magnesium, etc.) ... What are some of the controls used to protect the food chain from accidental introduction of this type of toxicity (traces of radioactive materials commonly found in mineral deposits, as far as I understand)? Really an idea for a video for you. Thanks. Enjoy your channel. Cheers from sunny Florida, USA
I'm surprised you don't have to wear Howie lab coats, they button up tight to the neck. As the medical research scientist we always have to wear a Howie lab coat. Additionally with our hair tied back we have to keep our hair inside our lab coats.
Good instructions on lab safety. Since finding your channel I've been trying to guess your native language, your accent seemed Eastern European but not quite Russian. Seems I was pretty close.
In time will it be possible to break down an atom into it's basic components (protons, neutrons and elections) and then reform them into different elements say like breaking a lead atom and then reforming the particles into atoms of oxygen.
Hi Elina , I was curious to know due to your Profession does it create any problems on cost to your Insurance or health care despite all the safety precautions ? I know here in the states Health care can be very expensive. I really enjoy your videos Thank You.
I can't speak for Elina, but in my country it doesn't affect my insurance. I suppose it is because the field is extremely well regulated and controlled and thus actually safer than most. When mining uranium, the mining operations are much more hazardous than the processing plants.
I work in Chemistry and I to have to wear ridiculous PPE in my lab because the stuff I work with would kill you in seconds which is horrendous to be honest!!!!
@@christopherleubner6633 And that's not the worst.. I also get cyanide jabs from the local hospital because of the blood work I do as cyanide is used to break down cells. And one of the chemistries I do is heavily based with that. Yes aflatoxin is nasty but so are some others, which I will not mention here because I know someone will send me hate mail. Anyway nuclear physics is a breeze compared to my world. I'm a physics fan and started doing astrophysics so it's in my blood just not the toxins I use daily thank heavens 🙂
@Knight Sun Try as I may, try as I might. Your comment makes no sense to me. I'll say this. You can take the plutonium out of a nuclear weapon and reprocess it into MOX fuel for use in a commercial plant. You can use U-238 in a fast breeder reactor.
I notice you have some quite impressive nails, is that not an issue with gloves as they create a pressure point where the gloves are more prone to rip?
So informative! I have a couple questions about nuclear public health. I heard that granite countertops are radioactive because of the naturally occurring uranium minerals in the granite. Are you or other scientists able to calculate the additional risks of birth defects and/or cancer from granite countertops to let's say a full time homemaker making three meals a day in her kitchen? Also, I've heard that part of the cancer-causing effect of nonorganic cigarettes is polonium from the phosphate fertilizers used and that tobacco leaves are hairy and bind soil so smokers are actually getting some radioactive pollonium but this would not be the case with organic cigarettes like Native spirit. Is that something that can be calculated?
The radioactivity from the granite slabs is way below the natural background from cosmic rays. Wooden tops contains radioactive carbon14, and nobody worries about that. The problem with granite isn't the U as such, but the radon gas produced. This accumulates in enclosed spaces and can be inhaled. In houses it cannot do so.
You should definitely think about creating audio books with your voice and general demeanor,it would make for very easy listening and people would genuinely learn something
Regarding tasting uranium: Apart from its radioactivity, it is also a heavy metal and thus chemically quite toxic. Apparently plutonium is the most toxic heavy metal of them all. Tasting most metals is not a good idea in general.
Hey, I was perusing your channel and I didn't see anything about fusion on there. Have you touched on the topic? And if not are you interested in doing so in a video?
Hi! My question would be about the safety of nuclear plants. As I can not find any answer to my last concern. If a country decided to shell another country's plant, they might destroy entire parts of a country (especially if you have tons if plants at your country). So even though accidents are preventable, but it is such a high risk, as it is the best military target, because you only need to bomb them. I might be totally wrong, so please help me out.
A colleague working in uranium exploration in Australia put a crumbly sample of a uranium secondary mineral - usually bright yellow, probably a carbonate or sulphate - in his shirt pocket. Next day he took a biscuit from the same pocket and was about to eat it. He said the taste was like copper sulphate, bitter and unpleasant, and spat it out. Later that day he had an attack of diarrhoea. That was more than 20 years ago and he is still in perfect health.
What will be the chain of events following Russia blowing up the nuclear plant in Ukraine? Some channel, I don't remember which, mentioned the iodine pills to reduce chance of thyroid cancer (especially in kids) is pointless as radioactive iodine is not one of the decay products in this case. Any truth to that?
Well if you love the taste of Uranium I am sure Polonium is way better. The way fuel pellets work I think is they occasionally emit neutrons, and if you have a moderator and a lot of pellets they can start a chain reaction and release heat. That kind of suggests as you hold one from time to time some neutrons fly into your body which would not be great.
Just for fun, I decided to calculate the actual neutrons you would get: I calculated the amount of neutrons produced in a 10g pellet of 3.5% enriched UO2 fuel to be 7.5 neutrons per minute [1]. They are emitted in random directions, very roughly a third of those would reach the body of someone holding it in their hands. Let's say 2 to 3 per minute. Most of those neutrons have energies about 1 MeV, all below 10 MeV [2]. The cosmic ray neutron flux at sea level depends on current solar activity, and your latitude. I have found values of approximately 0.5 neutrons per minute and square centimeter at about 1MeV, and 0.3 above 10MeV, and much more below 1MeV [3,4], but those are less dangerous. Let's calculate with 0.5 / min / cm^2. Assuming irradiation from above, and a head top view size of 180 cm^2, this yields 90 neutrons per minute. The neutrons from the uranium are negligible compared to natural background. Reactors use startup neutron sources to begin the chain reaction, the natural amount of neutrons is low and especially unstable. Sources: [1] WISE Uranium project - Alpha-Neutron Reaction Calculator [2] Wulandari, Hesti & Jochum, Josef & Rau, W. & Feilitzsch, F.. (2003). Neutron flux at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory revisited. Astroparticle Physics. 22. 313-322. [3] Overholt, A. C., Melott, A. L., and Atri, D. (2013), Modeling cosmic ray proton induced terrestrial neutron flux: A look-up table, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 118, 2765- 2770 [4] J. F. Ziegler, "Terrestrial cosmic rays," in IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 19-39, Jan. 1996
🤣🤣🤣 so true! My childhood was my dad and his brothers trying to make hotter and hotter peppers and daring each other to eat them. They would cry, dance around and then take another bite. Testosterone has a death wish.
3:00 Actually uranium tastes like strawberry flavored cotton candy. Also, it makes your poop glow with an eerie blue light for the rest of you life, which will be maybe a few days. Just because uranium is tasty, it doesn't mean you should eat it. Obviously, I will be unable to answer replies to this comment, but feel free to reply.
Walrus. U look like a highly intelligent and kind walrus with the one mask on. Lol. I love the info, too! And normally, you look nothing at all like a walrus 😁
Unfortunately this was the last video on her channel. But she left behind an important contribution to human knowledge - the question of the taste of Uranium has been settled.
When it comes to jobs, still need janitors, machinist's and equipment mechanics ,etc I once had to deliver a 146mm impact socket (roughly 5-3/4") to a conventional power station, needed to be there in less than 4 hrs due to 'downtime cost' I would hope the background checks are a lot more stringent at any power plant than getting a job at McDonald's? 😂
I had to smile at the "What does Uranium taste like?" question! I quite agree there is no reason to taste Uranium in any form!
It's simple. Uranium tastes like uranus
Yellow cake sounds delicious.
Taste metalic.
My grandma has uranium plates...
And I've licked those plates many times 10/10 😋😋😋
Tastes like mouth cancer.
I just randomly discovered your channel and am blown away. I think I've watched about half of the videos and I'm really looking forward to the rest. While I think I have a fairly comprehensive understanding of nuclear physics, to see an expert presenting unbiased content to the public that is understandable to the layman is a real treat to the soul. Monday's payday, so I'll at least photon on the ko-fi and in the meantime subscribe and upvote. I'm just not able to express (in english) how much I appreciate what you're doing.
Elina Charatsidou does well to explain the complexities of nuclear physics clearly without ever coming across as condescending. I especially appreciate her humor. I leave each video enriched with knowledge ⚛️. Elina is classy, sassy, inquisitive, enthusiastic and just.so… huggable 😊.
First question is mine 😄😄 ...
Thank you Elina for the answers . It made my day ...
Keep growing 👍👍
How do nuclear spills get handled in a nuclear lab? Like let's say you have a vial full of radioactive powder and you accidentally drop it on the ground and now there's powder on the floor, how do you clean that?
CAREFULLY !!! 😂
With all that equipment on, do your best Darth Vader impression.😋
Great video. Knew a lot of it, but also learned quite a few new things.
Bravo Elina! Very educational... Probably my favorite video of yours. I liked the question about moving materials in and out of the glove box and replacing the gloves. I wondered how that was done. I would love to see a video just on that.
Love that you're taking the time to explain some more. Great content :D
Great answers, was pleasure to watch
Elina, loved the Q&A. Could you talk about Radon and it's effect on people inside homes.
The reason depleted uranium (DU) keeps being brought up is that it is used in weapons (like artillery shells with DU rods)
However, its use in the artillery shells has nothing to do with radioactivity - it's just a very dense material, making the shell much heavier, and thus able to do more piercing damage on impact at the same velocity
It's also used for radiation shielding, actually, much like lead
So it's used as lead with extra steps
@@dudono1744 Uranium is much harder and denser than lead
@@elvisrhi4885 I guessed so, otherwise nodoby would bother collecting it
It's racism only white are allowed poc can't even discuss it and aren't allowed to discuss the issue.
Density is not all. DU is brittle and flammable. On impact, a DU armor penetrator will fracture in such a way that the projectile becomes sharper. The heat of impact will ignite the uranium dust inside and outside of the armored target.
Uranium is chemically toxic in addition to its radioactivity; and it creates more dust than softer metals. Modern Battlefields are generally poisoned zones, but DU is arguably worse than most. Because it is a highly political subject, I wouldn't trust any information on exactly how much worse it is.
Nice job explaining about the difference in fuels for nuclear power plants. I handle nuclear accidents so this is very helpful for my work.
A simple question. How do your (lovely) nails and gloves get on together? I could see them being a point of failure. Thank you for your informative videos delivered in such a friendly way.
Amazing Q&A video very informative ❤❤❤ that would be an amazing series in your channel. ❤❤❤
The fast that ppl even asked about the zip bag is so funny and interesting ~ I love your lab Elina and pls pls always wear gear when you need to (and when you don’t lol) I just want you to stay safe ❤ always
This was amazing!
Thanks for letting we everyday people to peer into what you do. I hope the work you and your colleagues do bring us closer to a future where energy is plentiful and clean.
Emotionally I like the idea of powering our world with wind, solar and other renewable technologies, but I think our complex and chaotic world needs more options to address needs across the whole globe and potentially other planets too.
The problem with depleted uranium ammunition for tanks, etc. is that, unlike natural uranium, it isn't buried. It's just sitting there on the ground after the war, and as Elina said, Uranium is not *harmless*. Probably the worst effect is that it can get into groundwater, which normally does not contain natural uranium. That water then goes into irrigation, etc.
Ground water and soil. And even if it is not "dispersed" in the air as atomic bomb, it pollutes areas where it was dropped. Exactly what US did in my country.
Great video! Thank you!
Very well done Q and A session. One advantage of UN fuel would be that when the N absorbs a neutron it will become 14C which would form the carbide allowing the fuel pellet to maintain mechanical integrity 🤔
This was great! Please make more of these :)
Hello, Elina!
This looks like a cool lab to work in! It kind of reminds me of my chemistry lab in high school. We had the fume hood as well as some gas intake pumps (for heating up things or whatnot), sinks, decontamination shower, goggles box, gloves, etc. Same principles when it comes to safety. As long as you know what material you are handling, and how to handle it, you'll be fine. Just don't mess around.
Hi Elina seeing as it's 3 to 4 times more abundant than uranium why aren't we using thorium reactors.
A seemingly simple question that requires a complex answer.
nuclear proliferation
reprocessing
AHH I see your an activist....
@Alan Hilton I'm an enthusiast,
June 1st 1965 ORNL went critical with the MSR.
You can't make weapons grade Pu-239 from the U233 thorium cycle. They wanted all bombs they could get. MSR canceled.
It would take a decade or more to ramp up to displace fossil fuels on the grid. Fine Create tens of thousands SMRs in the meantime . Certainly in less than 20 years We can get electric transportation.
We have hundreds of years of fossil fuels available. The nuclear boogeyman sold to the public by Hanoi Jane in 79 killed nuclear power in the US.
Since the invention of fire we've only had access to three sources of energy. The energy stored in fossil fuels from the sun the energy we receive from the sun and the nuclear energy stored from the stars.
The last one is the one for me.
@@slugface322 that's a big info dump you should start your own channel your obviously very knowledgeable on this subject.
How does lead or metal cooling work in a reactor ?
Same as salt ?
You handle, not so dangerous metal, with far more control and safety, than viruses and bacteria is handled. 👍
Very nice to know you are safe 🤗
Hi Elina!!
Thanks for a fantastic channel Elina! Just wondering if you'll do a video on fusion at any time?
I was wondering in the last video, and it didn't come up in this one: what about your hair? When handling the powdered materials, wouldn't it be advisable to wear hairnets, or some other kind of head-gear? I have a feeling that the hair is a perfect place for small particles to settle on, and then get back into the air later, like when taking off the mask brushes it.
Isn‘t uranium still really dangerous if depleted due to chemical toxicity? Also, would love to see a video about spent nuclear fuel recycling - that seems to be a fairly obvious solution to the whole waste problem, and you mentioned France does it in the last video - but why isn‘t it talked about more in the context of dealing with nuclear waste?
There is no solution for recycling nuclear fuel, they still are leaving it sealed in barrels and in underground concrete bunkers. Some can be reused again as fuel or in weapons as they are doing it actively. For now every solution for recycling the fuel will contaminate something. There is already a video about that from some youtubers.
Na, depleted uranium isn’t particularly dangerous 🤗 You are 100% correct that uranium is toxic but it really needs to be in a water soluble form to get into the body and do any real damage that way. The metal, oxides and diurinates are relatively safe as they have low solubilities in water 🤗
Think of it like lead. A chunk of lead metal isn’t really dangerous by itself but lead acetate is real nasty due to being water soluble as it can mix with your sweat then absorb through your skin etc.
All that said, I still wouldn’t recommend messing around with it unless you understand the risks! Hope that helps 🤗
Your channel has made me interested in becoming a nuclear physicist, so I'm wondering what degrees/education you have to be in this position?
To become a nuclear physicist you must have a degree with physics and maths as major subjects, plus post graduate qualifications in physics. Very interesting but very theoretical. Jobs are a bit scarce nowadays, pay good but not great. I suggest you also consider nuclear engineering. More opportunities and also more practical. For that you typically do a standard engineering course (usually mechanical engineering, but can also be chemical or electrical) and then specialise in nuclear applications post graduate. Either way, it is a fascinating and rewarding career, but the preparatory studying is hard work.
Hey thanks alot, newbie to your channel 😎🤘🍻
Ms. Elina, I thought you would use more PPE than you did. But your explanation nailed it for me. Thanks. ❤️🤘☢️
Wow! You have a very cool boss! I am certainly NOT allowed to film at work! Good for you!
When I first went to work at Hanford in 1991 there was an old-timer there, who was rumored to have been able to tell the difference between uranium and other yellow powders by taste. I don't think he actually did it since the last time I saw him he was 82 years old. It doesn't take very much uranium to give you very dangerous kidney stones.
Dangerous and quite dense. Heavier than usual ones for sure.
I knew a bloke who ate a load of uranium and he just got sicker and sicker. Eventually we had to barium.
PS the doctors said they couldn’t do anything to helium.
I'm curious to know more about the vitrification of nuclear waste if you get a chance to talk about it in one of your videos.
I second this. I can't remember if the glasses contained boron or not. It has been a while since I came across those papers while looking for other topics around glass.
Yes, we use borosilicate glass. Google "DWPF"
Fun fact: at the times before people have realized the toxicity of lead, lead acetate was widely used as a sweetener. I guess, uranium acetate would be less toxic. And may be even sweeter.
Has far more calories tho 😏
@@ChemEDan and a lot more export restrictions
Regarding the issue of 500uSv on the Geiger counter. I have not had a chance to play with Ranger EXP with pancake tube, and dosimetry is not really my area of expertise, so someone needs to enlighten me on this one. Does this device have a software switch that tells the device it is now measuring 4.2MeV alpha particles and should use some alpha specific calibration profile and not the 662keV CS-137 one? If not, then using it in dose rate and acc. dose mode is only good to look for hot spots or getting the general idea of the sample activity, because those calculated uSv numbers will be completely unrealistic. Unless this device has alpha specific calibration profile, it should rather be used in raw CPS/CPM mode. Anyway, even if there is special calibration profile, such dosimetry against alphas seems pointless as we assume external exposition in this kind of measurements and alphas are pretty much harmful only if their source is ingested.
You are completely correct. Most Geiger counters are not able to determine the energy of the particle or photon, only proportional counters can do that. I think that in this case it would be more accurate and interesting to measure the gamma radiation emitted by the sample with a gamma spectrometer, a device that is capable of determining the energy of the received photon. Like you said, the alpha particles are not really relevant for determining the dose rate.
Hello Elina . Regarding depleted Uranium . The united States Army uses depleted unranium munitions for it's tanks and some autocannons. ( taking advantage of the material density as the penetration of the proyectile is based on kinetic energy ) .
- Could you explain a bit the dangers (if any) that these proyectiles produce once fired ?
- They also claim that the uranium projectile "sharpens" on impact , unlike a steel or tungsten rounds. Is this possible based on the knowledge you have on the material ?
Thank you very much.
Great thank you
Thanks, iam interested in Nuclear Energy and you are putting afford & using your job into a use that others can kind of experiment it apon on doing your job.
Can bacteria or viruses harmful to humans survive on the surface of uranium, or is it self sterilizing? If so, could it be used to make surgical tools that don't need to be put through an autoclave?
Thank you my beautiful .
how to initiate nuclear reaction in power plant reactor
3:00 uranium glaze on ceramics tastes similar to lead and its understandable because it's heavy metal.
So using the definition you provided, what is the difference between depleted Uranium and Uranium 238?
Uranium-238 is an isotope of uranium; each uranium atom contains 92 protons and however-many neutrons. Depleted uranium is a mix of isotopes which is notably lacking in U-235.
Natural uranium (NU) contains 99.3% U-238 and 0.7% U-235 (and a trace of U-234). In the enrichment process you take, say, 1000 kg of NU and sort the atoms into two batches:
• One contains 100 kg, including 5 kg of U-235 (5%) -- that's the low-enriched uranium (LEU) that can be used as reactor fuel.
• The other contains 900 kg, but only 2 kg of U-235 (0.2%) -- that's the depleted uranium (DU).
Some of its composites are water soluble? those ones would have a taste... when water sits in an aluminum thermos too long, metal is metal.
What are the results with human body or animal if is shooting with charging particles, like uranium when is enriched ???
Please can you make a video about cold fusion is possible or not
I still wonder why "nuclear waste" is considered "waste" if it's so dangerous. If it's dangerous, it's doing things, if it's doing things, then we can extract power from it, no? Or can't you create fission with waste? Why not?
So what makes depleted uranium so good as ammunition then?
Nice video.
I recall many years ago seeing a graphic, it may have been in my physics book, that showed the penetrating power of the different types of ionising radiation. If I recall correctly alpha particles were shown being mostly stopped by a sheet of paper or the outer layer skin, beta by aluminium foil whilst gamma would get through a thick layer concrete. Is that a fair comparison? Obviously strength of source would presumably be a factor as well, if something stops 99% then a source 100 times as powerful will deliver the same dose.
Regarding what uranium tastes like, wouldn’t chemical toxicity be a big factor as well as radiological risk? Heavy metals tend to be really bad for living systems, I recall being told that if you’re ever directly exposed to plutonium, don’t worry about the radiation as the chemical toxicity will kill you long before the radiation does.
Don't think I'll be trying that. Do have a question ... not researched it yet ... Our foods ... they contain minerals (iron, magnesium, etc.) ... What are some of the controls used to protect the food chain from accidental introduction of this type of toxicity (traces of radioactive materials commonly found in mineral deposits, as far as I understand)? Really an idea for a video for you. Thanks. Enjoy your channel. Cheers from sunny Florida, USA
I'm surprised you don't have to wear Howie lab coats, they button up tight to the neck. As the medical research scientist we always have to wear a Howie lab coat.
Additionally with our hair tied back we have to keep our hair inside our lab coats.
Don't know if you will see this but, how about a piece/history on the demon core and maybe an explanation on a fast nuclear breeder reactor?
Good instructions on lab safety. Since finding your channel I've been trying to guess your native language, your accent seemed Eastern European but not quite Russian. Seems I was pretty close.
In time will it be possible to break down an atom into it's basic components (protons, neutrons and elections) and then reform them into different elements say like breaking a lead atom and then reforming the particles into atoms of oxygen.
Hi Elina , I was curious to know due to your Profession does it create any problems on cost to your Insurance or health care despite all the safety precautions ? I know here in the states Health care can be very expensive. I really enjoy your videos Thank You.
I can't speak for Elina, but in my country it doesn't affect my insurance. I suppose it is because the field is extremely well regulated and controlled and thus actually safer than most. When mining uranium, the mining operations are much more hazardous than the processing plants.
Most likely she lives in a country with a proper Healthcare system so it doesn't cost her anything
I believe the U238 is less radioactive because it has a longer half life than the U235, right Elina?
I work in Chemistry and I to have to wear ridiculous PPE in my lab because the stuff I work with would kill you in seconds which is horrendous to be honest!!!!
What stuff is that?
@@andrewch4066 I have the same question as you
@@andrewch4066 Cyanide,Rodenticides,Nicotinic acid, Strychnine and the ridiculous Aflatoxin.
@@garthdev aflatoxin yikes... that's some nasty stuff.
@@christopherleubner6633 And that's not the worst.. I also get cyanide jabs from the local hospital because of the blood work I do as cyanide is used to break down cells. And one of the chemistries I do is heavily based with that. Yes aflatoxin is nasty but so are some others, which I will not mention here because I know someone will send me hate mail. Anyway nuclear physics is a breeze compared to my world. I'm a physics fan and started doing astrophysics so it's in my blood just not the toxins I use daily thank heavens 🙂
Yeah ... Don't put yourself at risk for stupid stunts... Wish you the best.
What's your engagement ring made of?
He's the luckiest man in the world by the way, I hope he makes you happy 😊
As a chemist in an academic lab, I thought the part about safety gear when handling acids was hilarious
The old timers in Oak Ridge were told that the yellowcake uranium oxide was safe enough to eat.
Can Plutonium enrich depleted Uranium to make a fuel?
Yes you could do that. You would have to use nitride or carbide as oxides of plutonium do not form a dense crystal structure.
It is called MOX fuel.
@@slugface322 Bruce Nuclear Power Development use this, but it is natural uranium with out separating the U 235.
@Knight Sun Try as I may, try as I might. Your comment makes no sense to me.
I'll say this.
You can take the plutonium out of a nuclear weapon and reprocess it into MOX fuel for use in a commercial plant.
You can use U-238 in a fast breeder reactor.
I notice you have some quite impressive nails, is that not an issue with gloves as they create a pressure point where the gloves are more prone to rip?
So informative! I have a couple questions about nuclear public health. I heard that granite countertops are radioactive because of the naturally occurring uranium minerals in the granite. Are you or other scientists able to calculate the additional risks of birth defects and/or cancer from granite countertops to let's say a full time homemaker making three meals a day in her kitchen?
Also, I've heard that part of the cancer-causing effect of nonorganic cigarettes is polonium from the phosphate fertilizers used and that tobacco leaves are hairy and bind soil so smokers are actually getting some radioactive pollonium but this would not be the case with organic cigarettes like Native spirit. Is that something that can be calculated?
The radioactivity from the granite slabs is way below the natural background from cosmic rays. Wooden tops contains radioactive carbon14, and nobody worries about that. The problem with granite isn't the U as such, but the radon gas produced. This accumulates in enclosed spaces and can be inhaled. In houses it cannot do so.
My nuclear engineering handbook hypothesizes that the greatest cause of cancer in tobacco is the C14 in it.
You should definitely think about creating audio books with your voice and general demeanor,it would make for very easy listening and people would genuinely learn something
Elinas channel is going to explode
Regarding tasting uranium: Apart from its radioactivity, it is also a heavy metal and thus chemically quite toxic. Apparently plutonium is the most toxic heavy metal of them all. Tasting most metals is not a good idea in general.
Sweet.
Όταν έκανα κλικ στο βίντεο και διάβασα τον τίτλο για το τι γεύση έχει το ουράνιο μου πέταξε διαφήμιση Βίκος cola 😂. Πλέον γνωρίζω, ευχαριστώ TH-cam!
Uranium tastes like metal. Enriched uranium, specifically like blood and general cell dissolution.
Why used nuclear fuel is way, way more radioactive than the new? What makes nuclear waste so radioactive?
Hey, I was perusing your channel and I didn't see anything about fusion on there. Have you touched on the topic? And if not are you interested in doing so in a video?
Hi!
My question would be about the safety of nuclear plants. As I can not find any answer to my last concern. If a country decided to shell another country's plant, they might destroy entire parts of a country (especially if you have tons if plants at your country). So even though accidents are preventable, but it is such a high risk, as it is the best military target, because you only need to bomb them. I might be totally wrong, so please help me out.
Q: What does Uranium taste like?
A: Yellow Cake!
😂
Good one!😄
More day in the life vids!
A colleague working in uranium exploration in Australia put a crumbly sample of a uranium secondary mineral - usually bright yellow, probably a carbonate or sulphate - in his shirt pocket. Next day he took a biscuit from the same pocket and was about to eat it. He said the taste was like copper sulphate, bitter and unpleasant, and spat it out. Later that day he had an attack of diarrhoea. That was more than 20 years ago and he is still in perfect health.
I knew a man who drank ground water all his life. He did no know his drinking water had U but became rich from the mineral on his farm.
I do not see a coffee machine in this lab, I could not work there!
What will be the chain of events following Russia blowing up the nuclear plant in Ukraine? Some channel, I don't remember which, mentioned the iodine pills to reduce chance of thyroid cancer (especially in kids) is pointless as radioactive iodine is not one of the decay products in this case. Any truth to that?
I want to work with you
How can i ?
Plz tell
Well if you love the taste of Uranium I am sure Polonium is way better. The way fuel pellets work I think is they occasionally emit neutrons, and if you have a moderator and a lot of pellets they can start a chain reaction and release heat. That kind of suggests as you hold one from time to time some neutrons fly into your body which would not be great.
Just for fun, I decided to calculate the actual neutrons you would get:
I calculated the amount of neutrons produced in a 10g pellet of 3.5% enriched UO2 fuel to be 7.5 neutrons per minute [1]. They are emitted in random directions, very roughly a third of those would reach the body of someone holding it in their hands. Let's say 2 to 3 per minute.
Most of those neutrons have energies about 1 MeV, all below 10 MeV [2].
The cosmic ray neutron flux at sea level depends on current solar activity, and your latitude. I have found values of approximately 0.5 neutrons per minute and square centimeter at about 1MeV, and 0.3 above 10MeV, and much more below 1MeV [3,4], but those are less dangerous. Let's calculate with 0.5 / min / cm^2. Assuming irradiation from above, and a head top view size of 180 cm^2, this yields 90 neutrons per minute.
The neutrons from the uranium are negligible compared to natural background. Reactors use startup neutron sources to begin the chain reaction, the natural amount of neutrons is low and especially unstable.
Sources:
[1] WISE Uranium project - Alpha-Neutron Reaction Calculator
[2] Wulandari, Hesti & Jochum, Josef & Rau, W. & Feilitzsch, F.. (2003). Neutron flux at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory revisited. Astroparticle Physics. 22. 313-322.
[3] Overholt, A. C., Melott, A. L., and Atri, D. (2013), Modeling cosmic ray proton induced terrestrial neutron flux: A look-up table, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 118, 2765- 2770
[4] J. F. Ziegler, "Terrestrial cosmic rays," in IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 19-39, Jan. 1996
What is the cancer rate in your field? I suppose there are studies on that.
The cancer rates for people in her field are far below the average population.
However, you'd be upset to know the reasons why 😊
What does Uranium taste like? It tastes like cake. Yellowcake! 😂
Men: "Why do we have shorter life expectancy, it's unfair!" 😒
Also men: "I wonder what uranium tastes like..." 🤔
🤣🤣🤣 so true! My childhood was my dad and his brothers trying to make hotter and hotter peppers and daring each other to eat them. They would cry, dance around and then take another bite. Testosterone has a death wish.
I wonder if geologists still taste rocks and soil?
tastes like "oh shit!"
3:00 Actually uranium tastes like strawberry flavored cotton candy.
Also, it makes your poop glow with an eerie blue light for the rest of you life, which will be maybe a few days.
Just because uranium is tasty, it doesn't mean you should eat it.
Obviously, I will be unable to answer replies to this comment, but feel free to reply.
Walrus. U look like a highly intelligent and kind walrus with the one mask on. Lol. I love the info, too!
And normally, you look nothing at all like a walrus 😁
Spicy?
Are you also an expert on nuclear isomers?
my finding on internet it having a sweet bitter candy taste like while eating candy that had the same taste like:
Rocks (but spicy)
Everyone knows uranium tastes like spicy Tide pods 😂
Unfortunately this was the last video on her channel. But she left behind an important contribution to human knowledge - the question of the taste of Uranium has been settled.
Tastes like 🐔
Ah! How You became Nuclear physicist I had a dream of becoming one Like working in cern.
When it comes to jobs, still need janitors, machinist's and equipment mechanics ,etc
I once had to deliver a 146mm impact socket (roughly 5-3/4") to a conventional power station, needed to be there in less than 4 hrs due to 'downtime cost'
I would hope the background checks are a lot more stringent at any power plant than getting a job at McDonald's? 😂
Dumb question: why not uranium metal fuel, instead of oxide or nitride? Melting point or something?
It obviously tastes like yellow cake.