To: HangnJudge
Doesn't a P-BE neutron generator require a proton beam source in the 20 mev + range to generate a neutron flux?No. Polonium-210 emits alpha particles during its radioactive decay, which interact with the Beryllium to produce neutrons. The neutrons can be used for several different purposes, not just in nuclear weapons.
If this was a Po-Be source and it was over ten years old, it would be virtually useless. Polonium-210 has a half-life of 140 days, and after five half-lives, any source of radioactivity is basically inert (it doesn't make sense that this would be a "P-Be" source, since "P" is the designation for Phosphorus).
54 posted on
06/18/2006 8:51:34 PM PDT by
Tarantulas
( Illegal immigration - the trojan horse that's treated like a sacred cow)
To: Tarantulas
What do you think about the Tantalum coated Graphite?
56 posted on
06/18/2006 8:58:28 PM PDT by
jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
To: Tarantulas
You are right it should be Po-Be not P-Be. The document is slightly illegible, and hence P is indeed Po.
57 posted on
06/18/2006 9:01:14 PM PDT by
jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
To: Tarantulas
Why is the document saying that this device has "High Radioactive Activity"?
59 posted on
06/18/2006 9:03:50 PM PDT by
jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
To: Tarantulas
The P in the P-Be source designation is for proton - Beryllium, not phosphorous, I think. My memory is a little cloudy for this stuff in that my training was > 25 yrs ago...
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