Polonium-210 and plutonium-238 radioisotope shielding for post-Apollo missions
Apollo postflight analysis of polonium 210 and plutonium 238 radiation shielding for power supplies
Hagey, G. L.↗
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Detection of a nonuniform distribution of polonium-210 on the moon with the Apollo 16 alpha particle spectrometer.
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Bjorkholm, P.↗
Radon as a Tracer for Lunar Volatiles
Radon and its decay product polonium can be used as tracers to search for lunar volatiles. One effective technique to look for them would be by using alpha-particle spectrometers from lunar orbit. Alpha spectrometers were flown in the Apollo Service Modules during the Apollo 15 and 16 missions, and did observe Rn-222 and its decay product Po-210 on the lunar surface from orbit. This demonstrates that radon and polonium can be observed from orbit; what must next be shown is that such observations can reveal something about the locations of volatiles on the Moon.
Friesen, Larry Jay↗
Detection of radon emission at the edges of lunar maria with the Apollo alpha-particle spectrometer
The distribution of radioactive polonium-210, a decay product of radon-222, shows enhanced concentrations at the edges of lunar maria. Enhancements are seen at the edges of Mare Fecunditatis, Mare Crisium, Mare Smythii, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Nubium, Mare Cognitum, and Oceanus Procellarum. The observation is indicative of the transient emission of radon gas from the perimeters of lunar maria.
Gorenstein, P.↗
Low pressure radon diffusion - A laboratory study and its implications for lunar venting
Results of a study of radon migration through columns of fine particulate materials, at total pressures of 0.02-0.2 torr, are reported. Materials studied were: NBS Glass Spheres (SRM 1003), Emerson & Cuming Eccospheres (IG-101), activated coconut charcoal, Lipaci obsidian, and W-1 Standard Diabase. Rates of diffusion were used to derive heats of adsorption for radon on the materials tested. The most reliable values found clustered around 8-9 kcal/mole. These high heats of adsorption, if typical for most materials, combined with low percentages of radon emanation by lunar soils found by other researchers, imply that random walk diffusion will not be an important mechanism for redistributing the radon and the radon daughters produced in the lunar regolith. In particular, since random walk migration is not a sufficient mechanism to account for localized high concentrations of radon-222 and its daughter polonium-210 observed by the Apollo 15 and 16 command modules, an alternative mechanism is proposed, in which radon would be swept to the surface by other gases during intermittent venting events.
Friesen, L. J.↗
Photoelectrochemical cells including chalcogenophosphate photoelectrodes
Photoelectrochemical cells employing chalcogenophosphate (MPX3) photoelectrodes are described where M is selected from the group of transition metal series of elements beginning with scandium (atomic number 21) through germanium (atomic number 32) yttrium (atomic number 39) through antimony (atomic number 51) and lanthanum (atomic number 57) through polonium (atomic number 84); P is phosphorus; and X is selected from the chalogenide series consisting of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. These compounds have bandgaps in the desirable range from 2.0 eV to 2.2 eV for the photoelectrolysis of water and are stable when used as photoelectrodes for the same.
Reichman, B.↗
Heavy-ion radiobiology: new approaches to delineate mechanisms underlying enhanced biological effectiveness
Shortly after the discovery of polonium and radium by Marie Curie and her husband and colleague, Pierre Curie, it was learned that exposure to these alpha-particle emitters produced deleterious biological effects. The mechanisms underlying the increased biological effectiveness of densely ionizing radiations, including alpha particles, neutrons and highly energetic heavy charged particles, remain an active area of investigation. In this paper, we review recent advances in several areas of the radiobiology of these densely ionizing radiations, also known as heavy ions. Advances are described in the areas of DNA damage and repair, chromosome aberrations, mutagenesis, neoplastic transformation in vitro, genomic instability, normal tissue radiobiology and carcinogenesis in vivo. We focus on technical innovations, including novel applications of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), linkage analysis, and studies of gene expression and protein expression. We also highlight the use of new cellular and animal systems, including those with defined DNA repair deficiencies, as well as epithelial cell model systems to assess neoplastic transformation both in vitro and in vivo. The studies reviewed herein have had a substantial impact on our understanding of the genotoxic effects of heavy ions as well as their distinct effects on tissue homeostasis. The use of these radiations in cancer therapy is also discussed. The use of both heavy-ion and proton therapy is on the upswing in several centers around the world, due to their unique energy deposition characteristics that enhance the therapeutic effect and help reduce damage to normal tissue.
Review, Academic↗
U.S. Space Radioisotope Power Systems and Applications: Past, Present and Future
Radioisotope power systems (RPS) have been essential to the U.S. exploration of outer space. RPS have two primary uses: electrical power and thermal power. To provide electrical power, the RPS uses the heat produced by the natural decay of a radioisotope (e.g., plutonium-238 in U.S. RPS) to drive a converter (e.g., thermoelectric elements or Stirling linear alternator). As a thermal power source the heat is conducted to whatever component on the spacecraft needs to be kept warm; this heat can be produced by a radioisotope heater unit (RHU) or by using the excess heat of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). As of 2010, the U.S. has launched 41 RTGs on 26 space systems. These space systems have ranged from navigational satellites to challenging outer planet missions such as Pioneer 10/11, Voyager 1/2, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini and the New Horizons mission to Pluto. In the fall of 2011, NASA plans to launch the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) that will employ the new Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) as the principal power source. Hundreds of radioisotope heater units (RHUs) have been launched to provide warmth to Apollo 11, used to provide heating of critical components in a seismic experiment package, Pioneer 10/11, Voyager 1/2, Galileo, Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, MER rovers, etc. to provide temperature control to critical spacecraft electronics and other mechanical devices such as propulsion system propellant valves. A radioisotope (electrical) power source or system (RPS) consists of three basic elements: (1) the radioisotope heat source that provides the thermal power, (2) the converter that transforms the thermal power into electrical power and (3) the heat rejection radiator. Figure 1 illustrates the basic features of an RPS. The idea of a radioisotope power source follows closely after the early investigations of radioactivity by researchers such as Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), Marie Curie (1867-1935), Pierre Curie (1859-1906) and R. J. Strut. Almost 100 years ago, in 1913, English physicist H. G. J. Moseley (1887-1915) constructed the first nuclear battery using a vacuum flask and 20 mCi of radium (Corliss and Harvey, 1964, Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1913). After World War II, serious interest in radioisotope power systems in the U.S. was sparked by studies of space satellites such as North American Aviation s 1947 report on nuclear space power and the RAND Corporation s 1949 report on radioisotope power. (Greenfield, 1947, Gendler and Kock, 1949). Radioisotopes were also considered in early studies of nuclear-powered aircraft (Corliss and Harvey, 1964). In 1951, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) signed several contracts to study a 1-kWe space power plant using reactors or radioisotopes. Several of these studies, which were completed in 1952, recommended the use of RPS. (Corliss and Harvey, 1964). In 1954, the RAND Corporation issued the summary report of the Project Feedback military satellite study in which radioisotope power was considered (Lipp and Salter, 1954, RAND). Paralleling these studies, in 1954, K. C. Jordan and J. H. Birden of the AEC s Mound Laboratory conceived and built the first RTG using chromel-constantan thermocouples and a polonium-210 (210Po or Po-210) radioisotope heat source (see Figure 2). While the power produced (1.8 mWe) was low by today s standards, this first RTG showed the feasibility of RPS. A second thermal battery was built with more Po-210, producing 9.4 mWe. Jordan and Birden concluded that the Po-210 thermal battery would have about ten times the energy of ordinary dry cells of the same mass (Jordan and Birden, 1954). The heat source consisted of a 1-cm-diameter sphere of 57 Ci (1.8 Wt) of Po-210 inside a capsule of nickel-coated cold-rolled steel all inside a container of Lucite. The thermocouples were silver-soldered chromel-constantan. The thermal battery produced 1.8 mWe.
Cataldo, Robert L.↗
In vitro cell irradiation systems based on 210Po alpha source: construction and characterisation
One way of studying the risk to human health of low-level radiation exposure is to make biological experiments on living cell cultures. Two 210Po alpha-particle emitting devices, with 0.5 and 100 MBq activity, were designed and constructed to perform such experiments irradiating monolayers of cells. Estimates of dose rate at the cell surface were obtained from measurements by a PIPS alpha-particle spectrometer and from calculations by the SRIM 2000, Monte Carlo charged particle transport code. Particle fluence area distributions were measured by solid state nuclear track detectors. The design and dosimetric characterisation of the devices are discussed. c2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Alpha Particles↗