Loong

general recent conversations

The h Bar

General chat for Physics SE (physics.stackexchange.com). For M...

Loong

Thu 20:04

This only shows how old you have become in the meantime.

Loong

Feb 14 19:40

You don't learn much about reactor accidents, but a lot about cultural differences.

Loong

Feb 14 19:39

The Netflix series about Fukushima is closer to the reality.

Loong

Feb 14 19:39

But a few unnecessary factual mistakes can get you upset.

Loong

Feb 14 19:38

And I always liked Stellan Skarsgård.

Loong

Feb 14 19:38

I have to say, I enjoyed watching it, but mostly because of the dramaturgy.

Loong

Feb 14 19:35

It's not completely bad, but it allows itself a lot of artistic liberties. The presented science and nuclear technology have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Loong

Feb 14 19:19

The Ac-228 is from the natural Th-232 chain.

Loong

Feb 14 19:19

depending on the detector efficiency curve

Loong

Feb 14 19:18

With that Cs-137/K-40 ratio, it looks like a soil sample from Europe.

Loong

Feb 14 19:18

The Cs-137 is from Chernobyl.

Loong

Feb 14 19:13

Maybe it's a soil sample. Or the ash of a plant sample.

Loong

Feb 14 19:11

If he is using that reference, he should be fine. At least concerning the natural background in his sample.

Loong

Feb 14 19:08

okay

Loong

Feb 14 17:12

And the age of the sample doesn't mean much. Depending on the weather, there may be significant activity of new Be-7 in ground-level air and on surfaces.

Loong

Feb 14 16:59

What was that? A soil sample? It looks like one.

Loong

Feb 14 16:55

keV - peak
71.9 - x-Ray
74.2 - x-Ray
83.9 - x-Ray
238.4 - Pb-212
294.9 - Pb-214
300.2 - Pb-212
351.7 - Pb-214
477.7 - Be-7
511.2 - annihilation
583.3 - Ac-228
609.6 - Bi-214
662.1 - Cs-137
910.8 - Ac-228
964.3 - Ac-228
969.3 - Ac-228
1120.4 - Bi-214
1237.9 - Bi-214
1460.8 - K-40

Loong

Feb 14 16:55

@PM2Ring Looks okay, including a little bit of Chernobyl

Loong

Feb 13 20:47

@PM2Ring If it's an activated sample, it could also be Eu; but you would see many other peaks then.

Loong

Feb 13 20:35

What was the new NAA question?

Loong

Feb 13 20:35

There can be interference with the Compton edge of Cs-137, though.

Loong

Feb 13 20:34

@PM2Ring Be-7 would be the best guess for a peak around 477 keV from an environmental sample.

Loong

Feb 2 13:06

Why are you so fixed on 20 000 tons of TNT? There has never been a coordinated explosion of so much conventional explosives.

Loong

Feb 2 12:11

Yes, that's the one.

Loong

Feb 2 12:10

S-50 (Manhattan Project)

The S-50 Project was the Manhattan Project's effort to produce enriched uranium by liquid thermal diffusion during World War II. It was one of three technologies for uranium enrichment pursued by the Manhattan Project. The liquid thermal diffusion process was not one of the enrichment technologies initially selected for use in the Manhattan Project, and was developed independently by Philip H. Abelson and other scientists at the United States Naval Research Laboratory. This was primarily due to doubts about the process's technical feasibility, but inter-service rivalry between the United States...

Loong

Feb 2 12:07

@PM2Ring There was one during the Manhattan Project with maybe three dead or so.

Loong

Feb 2 11:53

I know a laboratory technician who opened a microwave digestion too early, before it had cooled down properly. She was just able to turn away; but with the marks on her back, she didn't wear bikinis after that.

Loong

Feb 2 09:39

yes, plastic

Loong

Feb 2 09:34

I can also still see a small scar where a drop has passed through two gloves.

Loong

Feb 2 09:33

It is fast. But I pulled the pipette out again right away, so the acid ran out and the reaction didn't go any further; so it didn't go through the glass. However, it was already white then.

Loong

Feb 2 09:27

@SignorFeynman I once accidentally used a glass measuring pipette for hydrofluoric acid because I was focused on something else in the workflow. Of course, I immediately noticed that something was wrong and pulled the pipette out again; but then it was already turning white.

Loong

Feb 2 08:39

But there are pickling baths.

Loong

Feb 2 08:39

Fortunately, there are no hydrofluoric acid lakes.

Loong

Feb 2 08:27

Just use hydrofluoric acid.

Loong

Jan 20 20:19

@PM2Ring Yes, I had already seen that. Just don't show that to the ideologically blinded German authorities, otherwise they will demand repository safety for 100 billion years.

Loong

Jan 19 12:46

In smaller companies, the boss might say "you can write it yourself and I will sign it".

Loong

Jan 19 12:45

@ACuriousMind Yes, I have recently checked with our HR. As a manager, I only give grades like in school for something like seven different aspects; and HR translates that into standardized text blocks.

Loong

Jan 19 09:56

Like "his achievements met with our satisfaction" sounds good but it's actually the lowest passing grade like a D.

Loong

Jan 19 09:54

The German ones have a certain code how to express things.

Loong

Jan 19 09:54

Well actually there was one almost like this, but not in Germany.

Loong

Jan 19 09:54

@TobiasFünke I never got one myself.

Loong

Jan 18 16:24

@Relativisticcucumber presumably North Korea

Loong

Jan 11 19:10

I ordered and bought a special issue directly from the publisher. I actually still have it here.

Loong

Jan 11 19:04

And then you finally get a copy of the paper, only to find out that our princess is in another castle.

Loong

Jan 11 19:04

Imagine? I can still remember that.

Loong

Jan 5 12:13

You may notice the first half of these instructions are similar to the instructions for a working nuclear fusion device. After the first few dozen steps, be sure to press down firmly and fold quickly to overcome fusion pressure.

Loong

Jan 1 12:47

It could work in a gas-cooled fast breeder, though.

Loong

Jan 1 12:43

@User1865345 I don't want to say right away that UN as fuel is a bad idea; but it would have a few serious drawbacks that would make it impossible to use in our current reactors.

Loong

Dec 28, 2024 12:27

@HerrFeinmann I thought the usual test is pineapple on pizza.

The Periodic Table

Haikus are awesome / Chemistry's even better / So pull up a chair

Loong

Jan 18 11:26

Mar 12, 2023 at 15:33, by Loong

Jun 9, 2021 at 18:39, by Faded Giant

I am tempted to flag all these "n factor" questions as off-topic because n factors are not used in actual chemistry.