Re: What the heck are you talking about?

Posted by Dale on Jan 12, 2002 at 12:39
159.arc1.il-decatur1.fgi.net (204.212.222.67)

Re: What the heck are you talking about? (bobbapink)

Correct. To say that a curie is a curie is like saying that a BTU is a BTU. I’d much rather stand in front of a mountain traveling at a speed that produces energy of a million BTUs than to stand in front of a car with the same energy. The rate of energy transfer is vitally important as is the volume that produces that energy.

The thing that is important here is the number of radioactive events that take place in a given amount of time and the energy of each reaction. The longer the half-life, the fewer reactions per unit time and so the safer a material is all other variables being equal.

The volume of DU needed to cause a problem (i.e. to produce enough events per unit time – measured in curies) is so large, it is hard to imagine anyone collecting that much in one place and then sitting down in the middle of it.


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