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/sci/ - Science & Math

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4933399 No.4933399 [Reply] [Original]

Could someone please rephrase this, in a way an idiot such as myself could understand?

>2. Although thorium produces much less long lived transuranics; some long life actinides are produced.

http://www.brighthubengineering.com/power-plants/77255-uranium-235-vs-thorium-90-compared-nuclear-po
wer-generation-perspective/

>> No.4933406
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4933406

Transuranics are elements with an atom number higher than that of Uranium, actinides are elements with a number higher than that of Actinium. Transuranics and actinides overlap to some extent, check the periodic table(all the way at the bottom).

The life they're talking about reflects the stability of the elements. Long-lived isotopes are radioactive, but emit their alpha, beta or gamma radiation slowly, over the course of several hundreds, thousands or even millions of years, so they don't pose an immediate health hazard since brief exposure means that you get exposed to less radioactivity. However, since they are long-lived, they're harmful for a long period of time and are hard to get rid of(eg nuclear waste). Short-lived isotopes are an immediate danger, since they give off large amounts of radioactivity in a short time span, but they also lose their radioactivity quickly as a result and are not generally a waste problem.

>> No.4933409

>>4933406
Thanks very much for the detailed explanation, most helpful.