The Question:
Concentrations of this element in the Earth's crust are typically a few
parts per trillion, but may reach up to a few parts per million in some
uraninite ore deposits.In 1961, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
(UKAEA) produced 127 grams of an isotope of this element by processing 60
tonnes of nuclear waste material in a 12-stage process, at a cost of about
500,000 USD and for many years, this was the world's only significant
supply. Today, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US provides this
element at a cost of about 280 USD/gram. One of the few commercial
applications for this element is a tracer in geology and paleoceanography.
What element is being described?
The Answer:
The element is Protactinium (Pa)! The ratio of protactinium-231 to
thorium-230 is used for radiometric dating of sediments which are up to
175,000 years old and in modeling of the formation of minerals. In
particular, its evaluation in oceanic sediments allowed to reconstruct the
movements of North Atlantic water bodies during the last melting of Ice Age
glaciers. The isotopes produced from thorium in nuclear reactors are
undesirable and are usually removed which adds complexity to the reactor
design and operation.One of these isotopes has a long half-life of 32,760
years and is a major contributor to the long term radiotoxicity of spent
nuclear fuel.
EQAB did review Doug's submission of "Trillium". EQAB did contact Oakridge
National Laboratory (ORNL) but no record of a "trillium" refinement process
was found in the records. Additionally, the Chicxulbu meteor strike is
attributed for the deposition of iridium (not trillium) and paleontologists
date the Popigai meteor impact to the Eocene epoch. For these reasons,
Doug's submission was deemed incorrect.
The winner of the quiz is Mordechai Kirshenbaum and will get the services
of Clumpy and Kloumpios for the week.
So far Clumpy and Kloumpios have done the following:
Past Quiz winners/tasks:
Week 1 Ravinder Ajmani, Western Digital
Week 1 Ron Feyereisen, SigmaTron Intl.
Week 2 Louis Hart, Compunetics
Week 3 Mark Kostinovsky, Schlumberger Ltd.
Week 3 John Burke
Week 4 Drew Meyer, Benchmark Electronics
Week 5 No Winner - no correct responses!
Week 6 Bhanu Sood, NASA
Week 7 Keith Calhoun, Sopark Corp
Week 7 Ian Fox, Rolls Royce
Week 8 Leland Woodall
Week 8 David Bealer, SMT
Week 9 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 10 Louis Hart, Compunetics
Week 11 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 11 Scott Decker, UTAS
Week 12 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 13 No Quiz,
Week 14 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 15 Bhanu Sood, NASA
Week 16 John Maxwell
Week 17 Leland Woodall
Week 18 Leland Woodall
Week 19 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 20 Robert Kondner
Week 21 Tom Brendlinger, ClearMotion Inc.
Week 22 Carl Van Wormer, Cipher Engineering LCC
Week 23 Juliano Ribeiro, DATACOM
Week 24 Gerry Gagnon, FLIR Commercial Systems
Week 25 Graham Collins, Sunsel Systems
Week 26 Joyce Koo, IPC International
Week 26 Todd MacFadden, Bose
Week 27 Bhanu Sood, NASA
Week 28 Leland Woodall
Week 29 Mordechai Kirshenbaum
Week 30 Leland Woodall
Week 31 Leland Woodall
Week 32 Steve Gregory
Week 33 Leland Woodall
Week 34 Jerry Dengler, Pergamon Corp
Week 35 Frank Kimmey, VeriFone Inc
Week 36 Graham Collins, Sunsel Systems
Week 37 Richard "Dean" Stadem
Week 38 Leland Woodall
Week 38 Tom Carroll
Week 39 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 40 Leland Woodall
Week 41 Tom Carroll
Week 42 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 43 Joyce Koo
Week 44 Russell Kido, Practical Components
Week 45 Leland Woodall
Week 45 Frank Kimmey, VeriFone Inc
Week 46 Ian Fox, Rolls-Royce Control Systems
Week 47 Fred Cox, Bluering Stencils
Week 48 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 49 Todd MacFadden, Bose
Week 49 Leland Woodall
Week 50 Russell Kido, Practical Components
Week 51 Ravinder Ajmani, Western Digital
Week 52 Leland Woodall
Week 53 Scott Decker, UTAS
Week 54 Leland Woodall
Week 55 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 56 Mordechai Kirshenbaum
Week 57 Steve Herring, Pennatronics Corp
Week 58 Leland Woodall
Week 59 Drew Meyer, Benchmark
Week 60 Leland Woodall
Week 61 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 62 Leland Woodall!
Week 63 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 63 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 63 Tom Granat
Week 64 George Wenger
Week 65 Frank Kimmey, VeriFone Inc.
Week 66 Jerry Dengler, Pergamon Corp
Week 66 Leland Woodall
Week 67 Eray Canli, ANDAR Electromechanical Systems
Week 68 James Head
Week 69 Mordechai Kirshenbaum
Week 70 Doug Pauls, Rockwell Collins
Week 71 Eray Canli, ANDAR Electromechanical Systems
Week 72 Russell Kido, Practical Components
Week 73 Denny Friz
- This week, I need different tasks from Clumpy and Kloumpios. I think you
said both can drive tractors - which one is best? Or, which one can drive
one of those wonderful red International tractors instead of the worthless
green John Deeres. OOPS, John Deere does a lot of electronics and is a big
wheel in IPC. Restated - which one can drive a crummy old red
International without electronics with a 6 volt battery instead of one of
those marvelous new John Deeres? That one will be disking, spreading
fertilizer, and planting seed for the hay crop on our farm next summer. The
agriculturally challenged one will be helping me with reports on "the
status of the US Defense Electronics Industry in support of Paragraph 845
of the 2019 Defense Authorization Act. All three Defense in DC, Executive
Agent at Navy Crane, and IPC are working together on a report due in
January 2019. Recently retired from SAIC/Crane - I am now playing on the
IPC team.
Week 74 Drew Meyer, Benchmark Electronics
- I would defer to Leland if he needs the help. Getting very cold here and
supposed to rain often. The boys probably would enjoy some warmth for a
week. Fun to drag out some little snip of information stored decades ago.
Read up on Wilhelm again!
Week 74 Leland Woodall
- The weather here is pretty nice, so the guys can assist with generating
the Quality reports for September for a day or so, and then perform some
outside work around the house. I'll try to take it easy on 'em!
Week 75 Mordechai Kirshenbaum
- assisted with ????
I hope everyone has a awesome week!
Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
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