December 2021

Nuclear Reactors 985 - U.S. Working To Produce Mo-99 Without The Use Of Highly Enriched Uranium

      One of the biggest uses of radioactive materials outside power generation and nuclear weapons is for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Production of isotopes such as molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) fell and left a world-wide shortage for the past few years. Fortunately, production has ramped recently.

Nuclear Weapons 763 - No Nuclear Weapons Escaped Russian Control After The Fall Of The Soviet Union - Part 1 of 2 Parts

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Flag of the Soviet Union

Part 1 of 2 Parts
     When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, there was a great fear that some of the nuclear warheads in Soviet satellite nations might fall into the hands of terrorists. Dick Cheney said that there were at least two hundred and fifty nuclear warheads that might possibly disappear. However, to date, not one Soviet nuclear weapon has been discovered outside of Russian control.

Radioactive Waste 832 - New Mexico Gets Funding For Nuclear Activities From Defense Spending Bill

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Caption: 
New Mexico State Flag

     New Mexico has many federal facilities that deal with nuclear weapons, nuclear research and nuclear waste. The state will receive millions of dollars this year from an annual bill that supplies funding for national-defense-related facilities across the U.S. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed by both the U.S. House and Senate. It was sent to President Biden for his signature.

Nuclear Reactors 984 - New Neutron Shielding Being Developed At Hefei Institutes of Physical Science

     Neutrons are nuclear particles without any charge. They can be used for plant mutation breeding, in nuclear reactors for producing nuclear energy, for boron neutron capture therapy for cancer treatment, neutron imaging, neutron activation analysis and neutron microscopy. It easily passes through most materials and reacts with the nuclei of the target atom.    

The Coolest Creatures of 2021

At the end of every year, we get to recap all of the odd, incredible and astounding animal findings of that year together. Sometimes there are wonderful new species discovered. Sometimes there are findings about old species we never would've dreamed. There are always new, wonderful and sometimes even creepy animal facts to be found and shared.

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