Re: Radioactive Boy Scouts and Smoke Detectors

[brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 10:44 4/26/99 -0400, Hugh Haskell wrote:
> ... Am-243 decays by alpha emission to Np-239, which decays by
> beta-minus to Pu-239, which can fission, but which requires several
> kilograms to generate a "critical mass". (I realize that the smoke
> detectors use Am-241, but I didn't have data on that radioactive chain
> readily available.)...
> Hugh

Here's a snapshot of the natural series involving 241Am

Plutonium
241Pu emits 21keV beta  half life 13.2 yr
Americium
241Am emits 5.48MeV Alpha   1/2  462 yr
Neptunium
237Np emits 4.8 MeV alpha   1/2  2.2 Myr
Protactinium
233 Pa emits 0.57MeV beta   1/2  27.4 day

Thence thru Uranium, Thorium, Radium, Actinium, Francium,
Astatine, Bismuth etc....

Brian



brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>
Altus OK