[NukeNet] [no-new-nukes-yall] RE: More on PU Shortage and NASA Missions

Sat Mar 15 11:29:39 EDT 2008

I, too, can vouch for Felice and Jack - I thought the clarification Jack made was very good.  I, too, did not realize the difference in the isotopes.  Molly

Kay Cumbow <kcumbow at greatlakes.net> wrote:          Hi Jeanine,

Felice and Jack have no ties to the government. They have been opposed to nukes for decades. I believe Jack was merely trying to clarify between plutonium 238 and 239, largely because of my posting. I was not aware of the history of plutonium-238 or its origin. I thought the plutonium used for the space program was the same plutonium produced in nuclear plants. I am thankful for his postings, as I have a much greater understanding of this part, now. What can I do to mend fences? Believe me, he is not advocating production of plutonium, in any way, shape or form. -Kay 

To:  Felice & Jack Cohen-Joppa:

If and until MOX fuel is developed and used in Nuclear Power Plants, plutonium is not a fuel for nuclear power plants, it is produced in the fuel and becomes a part of the waste, or if reprocessed, a part of the material for nuclear bombs.  What was the purpose of your response below? 

Do you support any of the following:

(1) MOX fuel production and use?

(2) GNEP?

(3) Complex Transformation, Bombplex?

(4) More nuclear weapons?

(5)  More nuclear power plants?

(6) Bringing nuclear waste from other nations to the U.S. as 
Energy Solutions is now proposing?

(7)  Allowing nuclear waste to be "disposed" of in commercial landfills?

(8) Melting of radioactive metals and recycling them in consumer products?

(9)  Using adult white males as the basis for radiation dose calculations, ignoring the most radiosensitive of the population, young children and fetuses?

(10) Ignoring inhalation and ingestion in calculating radiation doses to the 

What ties do you have to the nuclear industry or any of it's government, or  research arms? 

Jeannine Honicker

---------------------------------

   Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 21:29:02 -0700

   To: kcumbow at greatlakes.net; djhonicker at msn.com

   From: nukeresister at igc.org

   CC: no-new-nukes-yall at yahoogroups.com; nukenet at energyjustice.net

   Subject: Re: [NukeNet] More on PU Shortage and NASA Missions

   Just for the sake of clarity, the Pu-238 used for thermoelectric generators is not the isotope used in weapons, and in fact is uncommon among the Pu isotopes, as it is not among the isotopes in waste from nuclear reactors and is cumbersome to produce and isolate:  following is from the Wikipedia page:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-238

   "Plutonium 238, is a radioactive isotope of plutonium with a half-life of 87.7 years and is a very powerful alpha emitter. Because of its high level of alpha activity, it is used for radioisotope thermoelectric generators and radioisotope heater units. The use of plutonium-238 in American and Russian (and old Soviet Union) spacecraft is somewhat controversial.

   "Plutonium-238 was the first isotope of plutonium to be discovered. It was synthesized by Glenn Seaborg and associates in 1941 by bombarding uranium-238 with deuterons. Neptunium-238 is made as an intermediate product, which then decays to form plutonium-238. Plutonium-238 decays to Uranium-234 and then further along the radium series to Lead-206.

   "Today, Plutonium 238 is usually prepared by the irradiation of neptunium 237, a minor actinide produced in nuclear reactors, that can be recovered from spent nuclear fuel during reprocessing, or by the irradiation of americium in a reactor. In both cases, the targets are subjected to a chemical treatment, including dissolution in nitric acid to extract the plutonium-238. A 100kg sample of light water reactor fuel that has been irradiated for three years contains only about 700 grams of neptunium 237, and the neptunium must be extracted selectively.

   "The United States currently has limited facilities to produce plutonium-238. Since 1993, the U.S. has purchased all of the plutonium-238 it has used in space probes from Russia. 16.5 kilograms total have been purchased.[1]"

   Jack

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