AMERICIUM

ămərĭˈshēəm, artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Am; at. no. 95; mass no. of most stable isotope 243; m.p. about 1,175 degrees Celsius; b.p. about 2,600 degrees Celsius; sp. gr. 13.67 at 20 degrees Celsius; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. Americium is a silver-white metal thought to have either a loose-packed cubic or a close-packed double hexagonal crystalline structure. The pure metal has been prepared by reduction of americium trifluoride with barium vapor at about 1,100 degrees Celsius. It tarnishes slowly in dry air. All 16 known isotopes are radioactive. Americium-243, the most stable isotope, has a half-life of over 7,300 years. Americium-241, which has a half-life of about 430 years, is more often used in chemical investigations, since it is easily prepared in a fairly pure form; it is also used in industrial measuring devices, radiology, and household smoke detectors. The fourth transuranium elementto be synthesized, Americium is a member of the actinide series in group IIIb of the periodic table. It was discovered in 1944 by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, Leon O. Morgan, and Albert Ghiorso, who bombarded plutonium-239 with neutrons to form plutonium-241, which decays to form americium-241.

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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Questia Books and Articles on: Americium
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books on: Americium  - 56 results

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1.
Nuclear Power, Pollution and Politics
Book by Bob Burton; Routledge, 2003
...fission products and elements such as americium. The uranium and plutonium, which are...Pu242 Alpha 387,000 years Americium-241 Am241 Alpha 433 years Americium-242 Am242 Beta 152 years...
2.
The History and Use of Our Earth's Chemical Elements: A Reference Guide
Book by Robert E.Krebs; Greenwood Press, 1998
...Elements 252 Neptunium 252 Plutonium 254 Americium 256 Curium 257 Berkelium 258...
3.
Modern Physics for the Engineer
Book by Louis N. Ridenour; McGraw-Hill, 1954
Subjects: Electronics, Physics
...93 198 8.2.2 Plutonium Atomic Number 94 199 8.2.3 Americium Atomic Number 95 201 8.2.4 Curium Atomic Number 96 202...
4.
Fundamental Concepts of Inorganic Chemistry
Book by Esmarch S. Gilreath; McGraw-Hill, 1958
Subjects: Chemistry, Inorganic
5.
Nuclear Imperatives and Public Trust: Dealing with Radioactive Waste
Book by Luther J. Carter; Resources For The Future, 1988
Subjects: Radioactive Waste Disposal--Government Policy--Case Studies, Radioactive Waste Disposal--Government Policy--United States
...transplutonic" elements are created, particularly curium and americium. 36 As a result, the radioactivity of the alpha-emitters...waste form if ____________________ 36 Remarkably, the americium-243 isotope decays with a half-life of 7,300 years back to...
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journal articles on: Americium  - 12 results

       More journal Results: 1-10 11-12 >>  
 
1.
Of Weapons and Wastes
Journal article; Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, Vol. 14, 1999
Subjects: Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, Nuclear industry--Management, Radioactive wastes--Storage, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant--Management
...partial answer, at least for less dangerous wastes such as tools, rags, and protective clothing contaminated with plutonium, americium, and neptunium. The opening of WIPP after 25 years of political turmoil also offers hope that we will one day come up with...
2.
Childhood Leukemia in Germany: Cluster Identified near Nuclear Power Plant
Journal article by Valerie J. Brown; Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, 2007
Subjects: Childhood leukemia--Case studies, Childhood leukemia--Causes of, Leukemia in children--Case studies, Leukemia in children--Causes of, Nuclear power plants--Case studies, Nuclear power plants--Health aspects
...expert commissions investigated, and found moderate levels of cesium in rainwater and air samples, along with plutonium and americium in household dust near the plant. There was also some evidence of chromosomal damage to lymphocytes among the local population...
3.
Childhood Leukemia in the Vicinity of the Geesthacht Nuclear Establishments near Hamburg, Germany
Journal article by Wolfgang Hoffmann, Claudia Terschueren, David B. Richardson; Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, 2007
Subjects: Childhood leukemia, Leukemia in children, Nuclear power plants--Health aspects
...nuclear power plant revealed elevated levels of plutonium and americium (Schmitz-Feuerhake et al. 2003); and some but not all investigations...environmental contaminations by uranium, thorium, plutonium, and americium isotopes indicate an accidental release of radioactivity as...
4.
Reviewing the Evironmental and Human Health Knowledge Base of Carbon Nanotubes
Journal article by Aasgeir Helland, Peter Wick, Andreas Koehler, Kaspar Schmid, Claudia Som; Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, 2007
Subjects: Nanotechnology--Environmental aspects, Nanotubes--Complications and side effects, Nanotubes--Environmental aspects, Nanotubes--Research
...investigated different carbon nanomaterials as superior sorbents of organic pollutants, metals, fluoride, and radionuclide 243-americium 243Am(III) (Fiorito et al. 2006; Jia et al. 2005; Yang et al. 2006). Yang et al. (2006) found a high adsorption capacity of...
5.
Nuclear Reactions: Studying Peaceful Applications in the Middle and Secondary School
Journal article by Cynthia Szymanski Sunal, Dennis W. Sunal; Social Studies, Vol. 90, 1999
Subjects: History--Study And Teaching, Social Sciences--Study And Teaching
...fission is an energy source that has generated problems by the production of fission waste products such as plutonium and americium that have long radioactive half-lives of 10,000 years. Researchers are working on sustaining a fusion reaction in order...
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magazine articles on: Americium  - 15 results

       More magazine Results: 1-10 11-15 >>  
 
1.
FYI
Magazine article by Jackie Couillard, Suzanne Kantra Kirschner, Chris Miller, Bob Sillery; Popular Science, Vol. 253, November 1998
...uses a process called ionization; these detectors contain a small piece of an element called americium, which gives off low-level radiation. The americium sets up a current within the detector; in the presence of smoke, the current is disrupted...
2.
Nuclear Whistleblower
Magazine article by Jacqueline Brever; The Progressive, Vol. 57, July 1993
Subjects: Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant--Investigations, Whistle blowing--Personal narratives
...port. I went to the body counter and came up positive in americium, a deadly daughter-product of plutonium. It was written off...someone poked a hole in my glovebox glove. Plutonium and americium-contaminated ash from a 1969 fire at Rocky Flats puffed into...
3.
Ethically Speaking
Magazine article by Deloris Cassidy-Ervin; Security Management, Vol. 33, February 1989
Subjects: American Society for Industrial Security--Ethical aspects, Business ethics--Analysis, Professional ethics--Analysis
...officer who had been in the service for 24 years, revealed a plan proposed by his supervisors to cover up a spill of radioactive americium-laden waste. What was Sergeant Wingos sin? Where does the obligation to tell the truth begin and loyalty to the company organization...
4.
Securing U.S. Radioactive Sources: Although the U.S. Government Has Stepped Up Efforts to Prevent Acts of Radiological Terrorism, Significant Gaps in Security Remain to Be Filled
Magazine article by Charles D. Ferguson, Joel O. Lubenau; Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. 20, Fall 2003
Subjects: Antiterrorism measures--Evaluation, National security--Evaluation, Radioactive substances--Social aspects, Terrorism--Planning, Terrorism--Prevention
...Americium-241 10...Americium-241/beryllium 20...
5.
New Nukes: The Bush Administration's Plan to Use Fuel Reprocessing as the Spark to Revive Nuclear Power Will Not Succeed. Only Centralized Interim Waste Storage Can Make a Difference in the near Term
Magazine article by Richard K. Lester; Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. 22, Summer 2006
Subjects: Bush, George W.--Energy policy, Nuclear energy--Environmental aspects, Nuclear energy--Usage, Radioactive waste storage--Analysis, United States--Energy policy
...radioactive isotopes of the transuranic elements neptunium, americium, and curium. These materials, formed during irradiation of...it is the actinides (specifically, isotopes of plutonium, americium, and curium) that will contribute most to radioactive decay...
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newspaper articles on: Americium  - 7 results

       More newspaper Results: 1-7 >>  
 
1.
Border Guards Seize British Dirty Bomb Lorry Bound for Iran
Newspaper article; The Mail on Sunday (London, England), July 23, 2006
Subjects: Border patrols
...highly dangerous quantities of radioactive caesium 137 and americium-beryllium. The soil testers had been sent to Iran by a British...these devices to harvest sufficient material for a dirty bomb. Americium-beryllium is an extremely effective element for the construction...
2.
CLOSE SELLAFIELD NOW; INVESTIGATION: Fury Follows Shock Report Claiming Irish Sea Is Nuclear Dump
Newspaper article by Neil Leslie; The Mirror (London, England), May 28, 1998
Subjects: Irish Sea
...in a Welsh university and found to contain alarming levels of dangerous radioactive agents including americium, caesium and cobalt. Americium is one of the most toxic substances known to man and is described by experts as being as deadly as...
3.
A Scout and His Homemade Nukes
Newspaper article; The Washington Times, July 4, 2004
...several unoccupied cabins in order to secure the tiny amounts of americium-Its rare for boy scouts to be radioactive - their merit badges...several unoccupied cabins in order to secure the tiny amounts of americium-241 they contain. Trying to obtain radium, he bought old clocks...
4.
Homework for Grown-Ups; Everything You Learnt at School. but Can You Remember?
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), September 12, 2009
...Sioux b) Sioux and Cheyenne c) Shawnee and Lakota d) Mohawk and Seneca 5. What are Atimony, Holmium, Ytterbium, Bismuth and Americium? a) moons of Jupiter b) nuclear fuels c) elements d) subatomic particles 6. In Christian art, what does the depiction of an...
5.
Nuclear Lapse
Newspaper article; The Washington Times, July 15, 2007
...license. There was no site visit and obviously no effective background check on the requesters. The material in question is Americium-241 and Cesium-137, two man-made radionuclides with a range of industrial and medical applications. As Sen. Norm Coleman...
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encyclopedia articles on: Americium  - 13 results

       More encyclopedia Results: 1-10 11-13 >>  
 
1.
Americium
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
AMERICIUM am ri she m, artificially produced radioactive chemical...at 20 degrees Celsius; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. Americium is a silver-white metal thought to have either a loose-packed...structure. The pure metal has been prepared by reduction of americium trifluoride with barium vapor at about 1,100 degrees...
2.
Periodic Table of the Elements: Americium
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS: AMERICIUM Periodic Table of the Elements: Americium Atomic Number: 95 Atomic Symbol: Am Americium Atomic Weight: (243) Electron Configuration: 2 8 18 32 25 8 2...
3.
Am , Chemical Symbol
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
AM , chemical symbol symbol for the element americium . ____________________ Copyright 2009 Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
4.
Elements
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...table) Elements actinium Ac 89 227.0278 1050. 3200. 300 aluminum Al 13 26.98154 660.37 2467. americium Am 95 (243) 1172. 2600. antimony Sb 51 121.75 630.74 1750. argon Ar 18 39.948 189.2 185.7 arsenic...
5.
Dubnium
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...and half-lives of 0.1 sec and 3 sec, respectively, by bombarding americium-243 atoms with neon-22 ions. In 1970 the same team announced that by using the same americium and neon isotopes but a different detection technique they had created...
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