Nuclear Accidents – The Episodic Table of Elements

94. Plutonium: Weapons-Grade

March 3, 2025

6:00 am

8 Comments on 94. Plutonium: Weapons-Grade

Astronomy, Glenn T. Seaborg, Harry Daghlian, Harry Truman, Japan, Jons Jacob Berzelius, Los Alamos, Louis Slotin, Mythology, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Radioactivity, Russia, The Demon Core, The Manhattan Project, United States, World War II

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Element 94 causes a bit of a crisis for our collections.

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92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)

May 29, 2023

6:00 am

19 Comments on 92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)

Alsos, Belgium, Church Rock, Congo, Edwin Kemble, Espionage, France, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, George Kistiakowsky, Georgius Agricola, Germany, Harvard, Indigenous Americans, Italy, Leslie Groves, Mining, Moe Berg, Navajo Nation, Nazis, Nobel Prizes, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Otto Hahn, Paracelsus, Radioactivity, Samuel Goudsmit, Shinkolobwe, The Manhattan Project, Three Mile Island, United States, Werner Heisenberg, World War II

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America’s worst radioactive accident isn’t Three Mile Island, and the Nazi nuclear physicist wasn’t assassinated by the famous baseball player.

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55. Caesium: A Brief History Of Time

February 24, 2020

6:00 am

1 Comment on 55. Caesium: A Brief History Of Time

Atomic Structure, Benjamin Franklin, Brazil, Chernobyl, Etymology, GPS, Industrial Revolution, Nuclear Accidents, Periodic Table, Radioactivity, Railroads, Roman Catholic Church, Soviet Union, Submarines, Time

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We’ll trace the history of the most important caesium-based technology all the way back to its original roots: a stick.

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44. Ruthenium: The Glow Cloud

August 26, 2019

6:00 am

2 Comments on 44. Ruthenium: The Glow Cloud

Borexino, Catalysis, Etymology, Geoffrey Wilkinson, Gottfried Osann, Jons Jacob Berzelius, Karl Klaus, Mars, Mayak Facility, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Power, Parker 51, Platinum Group, Russia, Sabatier Process

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Element 44 is technically not named for Russia… but perhaps it should be.

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