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Chernobyl at 40 years: Looking back at Nuclear News
Sunday, April 26, at 1:23 a.m. local time will mark 40 years since the most severe nuclear accident in history: the meltdown of Unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
In the ensuing four decades, countless books, documentaries, articles, and conference sessions have examined Chernobyl’s history and impact from various angles. There is a similar abundance of outlooks in the archives of Nuclear News, where hundreds of scientists, advocates, critics, and politicians have shared their thoughts on Chernobyl over the years. Today, we will take a look at some highlights from the pages of NN to see how the story of Chernobyl evolved over the decades.
K. K. S. Pillay, C. C. Thomas, Jr., C. M. Hyche
Nuclear Technology | Volume 10 | Number 2 | February 1971 | Pages 224-231
Technical Paper and Note | Analysis | doi.org/10.13182/NT71-A30931
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The applications of neutron activation analysis for the routine monitoring of airborne inorganic pollutants were investigated. The use of several filter media were studied and two suitable filter materials (Millipore EHWP04700 and Dexter X-1215) were chosen for this investigation. An air sampling procedure was used to obtain several representative samples during the period of monitoring. A non-isolative neutron activation analysis procedure involving multiple neutron irradiation and high resolution gamma-ray spectrometry was used to determine the concentrations of 16 elements found in the airborne particulates in samples collected over a 1-year period from the Buffalo, New York area. Differences from previous studies are due to higher filter efficiency and the particular local industrial workup. The findings of this investigation indicate that in the analysis of the elemental composition of air pollutants, neutron activation techniques can compete well with other analytical methods.