Atoms for ExportSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 80, No. 2 (Feb., 1955), pp. 128-129Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/21372 .

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IENCE ON THE MARC ATOMS FOR EXPORT

NGLAND continues as a world leader in pro- ducing radioactive material for peaceful in-

temational use. Because of the growing demand from home and abroad for these valuable mate- rials, so important in medicine, science, and indus- try, a number of new buildings, especially designed to accommodate isotope production processes, have been added to the British Radiochemical Centre at Amersham, near London.

Until now, radioactive isotopes were almost en- tirely produced with simple laboratory apparatus that required some direct manipulation and which was housed in general-purpose buildings. Today, the demand for the more important isotopes is so great that it has become necessary to construct in- dividual chemical plants, completely screened and remotely operated, and to install them in buildings designed for the purpose. Improved facilities for dispensing, packing, and dispatching the products are also included.

These pictures, taken in the laboratories at Amersham, show some of the steps in the prepara- tion of radioactive materials. Waste solutions of

fission products from which the plutonium and uranium have been removed are received at Amer- sham from the British atomic production factories in northern England. These are the raw materials from which several important isotopes are sep- arated.

The most versatile radioactive isotope, carbon- 14, made by irradiating nitrogen with neutrons, is used in medical and biological research. The target material (aluminum nitride) is prepared at Amersham, sealed in aluminum containers, and sent to the production piles at Windscale to be irradiated for about a year. The active material is then returned to Amersham where the carbon-14 is extracted from it. Another material being pro- duced is strontium-90, now widely used industrially in such instruments as thickness gages; it is also used for the treatment of skin diseases.

During the last 5 years, 12,500 radium needles have been manufactured at Amersham for the treatment of cancer, and of these only one needle has been reported faulty. [Photographs by courtesy of the British Information Services]

2 . ; ' TheThe new laboratories for processing radioactive .11 _isotopes at the Radiochemical Centre, Amersham,

consist of four separate buildings, each accom- modating several processes. The wooden, glass- fronted structures above the entrances house the ventilating equipment for each of these new

buildings.

A chemist, protected by a screen of transparent -

plastic 1 in. thick, handles radioactive phosphorus in one of the new production plants. t

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The separation of individual amino acids from _ , . - . _ _ radioactive protein is done by column chroma-

tography. To separate the 17 amino acids con- tained in the protein, about 2000 fractions have to be collected and measured. Here the chroma- tographic columns and the automatic fraction collectors are shown in use.

p_ _ S. The production of radiation sources for use in K industrial instruments such as thickness gages is an important part of the work. Here an operator, protected from the beta radiation by transparent plastic screening, rolls a metal foil containing strontium-90.

j - One of the new laboratories is used for the sepa- ration of radioactive isotopes from fission prod- ucts, and stronti-um-90 and cesium-137 are pro- duced. The two cells shown in the photograph at the left contain equipment that is screened by 2 ft of concrete and is operated entirely by remote control.

An operator measures the strength of a beta-ray .

appliance containing strontium-90. It will be used in Australia for the treatment of skin diseases. 00

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