By Eugene Willard Miller, Ruby M. Miller
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Extra resources for Environmental hazards: radioactive materials and wastes : a reference handbook
Example text
Soon after this event, it was recognized that the release of energy from the atom could be controlled by a nuclear reactor, making it possible to produce electricity. With the explosion of the first atomic bomb, the environmental hazards from radioactivity became immediately evident. In the production of electricity from nuclear materials, a desirable product (electricity) results, but the process may also cause radioactive contamination of the environment, resulting in great health risks. Since the 1940s, a wide spectrum of individuals has become concerned about the use of the atom for both military and civilian purposes.
Some scientists were wondering whether the bomb could activate previously undiscovered natural phenomena. For example, some wondered if the bomb might ignite the atmosphere, causing a worldwide conflagration. In an early calculation Edward Teller indicated that in a fusion explosion the heat buildup would be sufficient to set fire to the atmosphere's nitrogen. It was found, however, that Teller had forgotten to account for the heat absorbed by radiation. The chances of the world catching fire were only three in a million.
As the electrical charge raced through the capacitor crushing first the uranium "hammer" and, inside it, the plutonium sphere, the nuclear material became supercritical. At that moment the polonium and beryllium mixed, sending forth a dense spray of neutrons that fissioned nuclei and released still more neutrons. Within a hundred-millionth of a second, a dense neutron cloud formed, fissioning billions of plutonium atoms. At the same time a glow flashed around the top of the tower, the result of radiation from gamma rays and X-rays roaring through the desert air, briefly ionizing it before heating it to millions of degrees centigrade.
