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Schnug's investigations into a potential radiation multiplier effect from small uranium
particles.
http://www.pharmacychoice.com/News/article.cfm?Article_ID=93531
in a book called 'Loads and Fate of Fertiliser Derived Uranium' (IPNSS).
Apparently this will include recent computer modelling results.
They argue that uranium atoms could be capturing photons of background
gamma radiation and then re-emitting their energy as fast-moving electrons
that act on the surrounding tissue in the same way as beta radiation.
This "phantom radiation" could be over 1000 times more damaging
than the alpha particles released by depleted uranium's slow nuclear decay,
according to their preliminary calculations.
Their theory invokes a well-known process called the photoelectric effect.
This is the main mechanism by which gamma photons with energies of
about 100 kiloelectronvolts (keV) or less are blocked by matter: the photon
transfers its energy to an electron in the atom's electron cloud, which is
ejected into the surroundings.
An atom's ability to stop photons by this mechanism depends on the
fourth power of its atomic number - the number of protons in its nucleus -
so heavy elements are far better at intercepting gamma radiation and
X-rays than light elements. This means that uranium could be especially
effective at capturing photons and kicking out damaging photoelectrons:
with an atomic number of 92, uranium blocks low-energy gamma photons
over 450 times as effectively as the lighter element calcium, for instance."
New Scientist checked this proposition with several radiation research
organisations in UK and Europe and reports their initial responses.
Dai Williams, UK
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