The American Chemical Society's Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology's summer schools in nuclear and radiochemistry

This successful educational program in nuclear and radiochemistry for advanced undergraduate students is described. Funding from the U.S. Department of Energy supports 24 fellowships for participants in the intensive six-week programs at San Jose State University (CA) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY). Students are provided transportation to and from the school site, room and board, books, lab supplies, and six units of college credit. The instructional program consists of lectures and laboratory exercises that cover the fundamentals of nuclear theory, radiochemistry, nuclear instrumentation, radiological safety, and applications in research, midicine, and industry. Guest lectures and field trips broaden the students' exposure to nuclear science. Assistance is provided in the following year to those students who wish to join a research project at a university or national laboratory, and thereafter, in their applications to graduate or professional school.     

Trends in nuclear education

Today’s nuclear curricula have the purpose to fulfil labor requirements of the nuclear market, both power and applications, as well as keeping up the academic level required for research and development in nuclear sciences. This work analyses the power and applications markets and the situation of nuclear education in several countries, including Mexico, as well as collective efforts promoted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other organizations. Conclusions are obtained about the status and trends in nuclear education, emphasizing the role of the academic and users sectors to fit the future demand and the availability of skilled personnel.     

Nuclear science and engineering education at a university research reactor

The role of an on-site irradiation facility in nuclear science and engineering education is examined. Using the example of a university research reactor, the use of such devices in laboratory instruction, public outreach programs, special instructional programs, research, etc. is discussed. Examples from the Oregon State University curriculum in nuclear chemistry, nuclear engineering and radiation health are given.     

Reducing nuclear danger through intergovernmental technical exchanges on nuclear materials safety management

The United States (U.S.) and Russia are dismantling nuclear weapons and generating hundreds of tons of excess plutonium and high-enriched uranium fissile nuclear materials that require disposition. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (Minatom) organizations are planning and implementing safe, secure storage and disposition operations for these materials in numerous facilities. This provides a new opportunity for technical exchanges between Russian and U.S. scientists that can establish an improved and sustained common safety culture for handling these materials. An initiative that develops and uses personal relationships and joint projects among Russian and U.S. participants involved in nuclear materials safety management contributes to improving nuclear materials nonproliferation and to making a safer world. Technical exchanges and workshops are being used to systematically identify opportunities in the nuclear materials facilities to improve and ensure the safety of workers, the public, and the environment.     

Nuclear engineering education in Brazil: Review and prospects

Half a century of focused nuclear education in Brazil has resulted in the expansion of applications of nuclear technique in many fields, such as power generation nuclear power plants, environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics and treatments, food irradiation, new materials development using irradiation, archaeological dating, hydrological studies, and so on. Nuclear research is blooming and evolving in Brazil. In the last three years, two master’s degrees and one doctorate have been approved by the Ministry of Education. The scientific capacity building has been enlarging and improving the reservoir of qualified personnel who Brazil expects to operate the current infrastructure and other facilities to be settled in the near future. Only graduate programs allocated by CAPES (Ministry of Education) and CNPq (Ministry of Science & Technology) in the Nuclear Engineering Area (Engenharia II) are considered in this paper. In Brazil, there are also Physics and hybrid graduate programs in what DSc degrees are pursued using nuclear and nuclear-related techniques; CAPES and CNPq do not allocate them in the nuclear engineering area, following their own criteria, since those programs have their own peers, budget and evaluation area.     

A view on future directions for macromolecular science

Polymer science has in recent years become one of the most dynamic components of materials science [1, 2, 3], which in turn is a powerful bridge between basic science and advanced technology. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has periodically reviewed the status of polymer science and engineering to ensure that this important field continues to develop in an appropriate fashion. Thus, the NSF asked the U.S. National Academy of Sciences on two previous occasions, in 1981 and again in 1994, to assess progress in polymer science and engineering and to make recommendations for the future. The resulting reports [4, 5] received wide circulation in many countries and helped to focus attention on the changing nature of the polymer field. A clear trend that was identified in these reports is the greater commonality with other materials‐related disciplines [1‐3] and with the biological sciences [1‐5]. Increasingly, these changes are being reflected in the programs of government agencies funding polymer research which are tending to be broader and more interdisciplinary than in the past.     

The nuclear education and staffing challenge: Rebuilding critical skills in nuclear science and technology

Summary The U.S. Department of Energy supports 24 fellowships for students to attend six-week programs at either San Jose State University in California, or Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York. The American Chemical Society through the Division of Nuclear Science and Technology operates both schools. The twelve students at the BNL program are enrolled in the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNYSB) and receive 3 college credits for the lecture course (CHE-361) and 3 additional credits for the laboratory course (CHE-362). In addition to lectures and laboratories, students tour various nuclear facilities offsite, at BNL, and at SUNYSB. Opportunities are given the students to interact with faculty and scientists within the profession through the Guest Lecture Program. Further details are discussed along with results of student surveys for the years 1999 through 2002.     

Prototype international quality assurance program

The international community presently lacks the ability to determine the quality and credibility of environmental measurements that is required to make sound decisions in matters related to international security, public health, and investment-related considerations. The ultimate goal of the work described in this article is to develop a credible information base including measurement capability for determination of environmental contamination and the potential for proliferation of material components of chemical or nuclear weapons. This study compared the accuracy obtained by six Russian and six U.S. laboratories for samples representative of classes of trace metals, dioxin-furans, and radioactive substances. The results obtained in this work indicate that current estimates for laboratory accuracy are likely overly optimistic. The weaknesses discovered by this prototype U.S. — Russia, study also exist within the broader international community of laboratories. Further work is proposed to address the urgent need for the international community to improve performance evaluations for analytical measurements.     

Undergraduate research opportunities in neutron activation analysis for local,regional and international students

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) remains an excellent technique to introduce undergraduate students to nuclear science and engineering coming from different academic areas. The NAA methods encompass an appreciation of basic reactor engineering concepts, radiation safety, nuclear instrumentation and data analysis. At the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab at the University of Texas at Austin we have continued to provide opportunities through outreach programs to Huston-Tillotson University in Austin and Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, both Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Furthermore, in the past four years we have established a strong educational collaboration with the école Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Caen (ENSICAEN), France. Undergraduate students at ENSICAEN are required to have an internship outside of France. While many of the students stay in neighboring European countries others have chosen the United States. The cornerstone of these programs is to secure a relationship with each institution through clear educational and research objectives and goals.     

The chemistry of fuel reprocessing: Present practices,future trends

The chemistry of reprocessing, the recovery and purification of plutonium from uranium and fission products produced in the fuel of a nuclear reactor, was surveyed and is described. Reprocessing presented unique chemical problems because of the intense radioactivity, the extreme degree of separation required, and the diversity of elements present. These challenges were met, and improved processes have evolved with time. After 50 years, improvements are still being introduced into the classical solvent extraction processes. In the future, integration of process steps across the entire fuel cycle and increased attention to waste management and environmental considerations are anticipated.Research sponsored by the Office of Facilities, Fuel Cycle, and Test Programs, U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-84OR21400 with the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.Operated by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy.     

Incorporating nuclear chemistry as an education tool in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum: A description of the curriculum project

Although many areas of major national need depend critically on professionals trained in nuclear and radiochemistry, educational opportunities and student interest in this area have declined steadily for the last twenty years. One major contributing factor to the lack of student interest is that most students in science and chemistry courses are never introduced to these topics. This deficiency in science curricula, coupled with the negative public perception towards all things “nuclear”, has resulted in a serious shortage of individuals with a background in this area. We propose to address this problem by “educating the educators” — providing faculty from two- and four-year colleges and high school science teachers with the curriculum materials, training, and motivation to incorporate these topics on a continuing basis in their curricula. Two advantages of this approach are: (1) it will generate scientists with a basic understanding of this field and (2) as teachers incorporate nuclear topics, many students will have the opportunity to reflect on the role of science in a technological society.     

Tautomeric equilibria of 2‐ and 4‐thiouracil in gas phase and in solvent: A density functional study

The relative stabilities of the five favored tautomers of 2‐ and 4‐thiouracil in gas phase and in water solution were determined by density functional theory employing the Becke, Lee, Yang, and Parr (B3LYP) exchange–correlation potential and the three 6‐31G(d,p), 6‐311++G(d,p), and triple‐zeta valence (TZVP) basis sets. Zero‐point vibrational corrections were also computed. Bulk solvent effects were studied in the framework of the self‐consistent reaction field approach by the polarizable continuum model. All calculations indicate that the most stable tautomer for both species, in the gas phase as well as in solution, has the oxo‐thione form, in full agreement with the previous ab initio and experimental studies. The tautomeric stability orders obtained in the aqueous solution are sensibly different from that in the gas phase. At B3LYP/6‐311++G(d,p) level in the gas phase, the following orders of stability for 2‐ and 4‐thiouracil tautomers were observed, respectively: S2U1>S2U2>S2U4>S2U5>S2U3 and S4U1>S4U2>S4U3>S4U4>S4U5. The corresponding trends in the aqueous phase are S2U1>S2U3>S2U2>S2U5>S2U4 and S4U1>S4U2>S4U3>S4U5>S4U4. On the basis of the computed energy differences we can hypothesize that only the oxo‐thione forms of 2‐ and 4‐thiouracil should exist in the gas phase and in water solution. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 82: 44–52, 2001     

The separation of99Tc from mixed fission products and its determination by neutron activation

Technetium is separated from the bulk of fission products and other elements in dissolved nuclear fuel by a ferric hydroxide precipitation followed by filtration and loading of the filtrate on an anion exchange resin. The technetium remains on the resin presumably as pertechnate ion. The resin is exposed to a neutron flux in a nuclear reactor activating⁹⁹Tc to¹⁰⁰Tc which decays with the emission of a 539keV gamma-ray with a 15.8 second half-life. This gamma-ray is conveniently counted with conventional solid state techniques.Work performed under contract to the U. S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-ACO7-76IDO1570.     

Education in analytical chemistry in the U.S.S.R.

Analytical Chemistry is taught at over 600 schools of higher education in the U.S.S.R. Contents of general and special courses are described in this article. The main problems and objectives of education at universities are mentioned.     

Atomic absorption spectrometric determination of thirteen minor and trace metals in phosphate rock concentrates

Atomic absorption spectrometric methods are described for the determination of thirteen minor and trace elements in phosphate rock concentrates from Florida (U S.A.), Kola (U.S.S.R.) and Morocco. The techniques employed are atomization of solid or liquid samples in two types of graphite furnace, and conventional atomization in the flame or the cold-vapour cell.     

Assessment of an osteoblast-like cell line as a model for human primary osteoblasts using Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is employed to determine the suitability of the U20S osteoblast-like cell line for use as a model for human primary osteoblasts, with emphasis on the ability of these cell types to replicate their tissue of origin. It was found that both cell types demonstrated early stage mineral deposition that followed significantly different growth patterns. Analysis of the growth pattern and spectral data from primary cells revealed increasing bone quality ratios and a high crystallinity, consistent with previous reports. Conversely the investigation of the U20S osteoblast-like cell line provided evidence of dense multilayered mineralised regions that corresponded more closely to native bone in terms of its crystallinity and bone quality ratios. This finding contradicts previous reports on U20S osteoblast-like cells which have consistently described them as non-osteoinductive when cultured in various conditions on a number of substrates. This work demonstrates the successful application of Raman spectroscopy combined with biological and multivariate analysis for the investigation of osteoblast-like U20S cells and human primary osteoblasts, specifically with focus on the osteoinductive ability of the osteoblast-like cell line and the comparative differences in relation to the primary osteoblasts.     

岩石矿物元素的整体分析、显微分析与分布分析

随着分析科学的进步和地学研究的深入,岩矿分析的研究内容和应用范围不断扩展。显微分析与分布分析和整体分析一样,也已成为岩矿成分分析的重要方面。整体分析提供的是给定样品总体的平均含量,显微分析得出的是所选微区的元素组成,而分布分析则可展示微束扫描区域内的元素空间分布。本文简述了整体分析的主要进展和趋势,着重评述了扫描核探针和同步辐射X射线探针作为显微分析和分布分析的新工具的应用进展与前景。     

An ideal teaching program of nuclear chemistry in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum

It is well known that several reports on the common educational problems of nuclear chemistry have been prepared by certain groups of experts from time to time. According to very important statements in these reports, nuclear chemistry and related courses generally do not take sufficient importance in undergraduate chemistry curricula and it was generally proposed that nuclear chemistry and related courses should be introduced into undergraduate chemistry curricula at universities worldwide. Starting from these statements, an ideal program in an undergraduate chemistry curriculum was proposed to be introduced into the undergraduate chemistry program at the Department of Chemistry, Ege University, in Izmir, Turkey during the regular updating of the chemistry curriculum. Thus, it has been believed that this Department of Chemistry has recently gained an ideal teaching program in the field of nuclear chemistry and its applications in scientific, industrial, and medical sectors. In this contribution, the details of this program will be discussed.     

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis with pyrographite crystals and small X-ray tubes

The advantages and peculiarities are described of energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis with preliminary energy selection of the radiation coming from a sample with the help of a cylindrical system of pyrographite crystals. The results of application of this method to the analysis of U and transuranium elements in the solutions of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing are presented. Minimum detectable concentration of U for determination directly in a solution is 0.15 ppm.     

Control of the stability of a protein-RNA complex by the position of fluorine in a base analogue

The effects of modifying the electronic characteristics of nonpolar base analogues substituted at positions involved in stacking interactions between SL2 RNA and the U1A protein are described. A surprisingly large difference in the stability between complexes formed with base analogues that differ only in the position of substitution of a single fluorine atom is observed. The results of high-level ab initio calculations of the interactions between the nonpolar base analogue and the amino acid side chain correlate with the experimentally observed trends in complex stability, which suggests that changes in stacking interactions that result from varying the position and degree of fluorine substitution contribute to the effects of fluorine substitution on the stability of the U1A-SL2 RNA complex.