Aerosols Generated by exp 239 Pu and exp 233 U Droplets Burning in Air

摘要

The inhalation hazards of radioactive aerosols produced by the explosive disruption and subsequent combustion of metallic plutonium in air are not adequately understood. Results of a study to determine whether uranium can be substituted for plutonium in such a situation in which experiments were performed under identical conditions with laser-ignited, single, freely falling droplets of exp 239 Pu and exp 233 U are reported. The total amounts of aerosol produced were studied quantitatively as a function of time during the combustion. Also, particle size distributions of selected aerosols were studied with aerodynamic particle separation techniques. Results showed that the ultimate quantity of aerosols, their final particle size distributions, and depositions as a function of time are not identical mainly because of the different vapor pressures of the metals, and the unlike degrees of violence of the explosions of the droplets. (ERA citation 03:051009)