Discovery Information
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Who: Andre Debierne |
When: 1899 |
Where: France |
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Name Origin
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Greek: aktinos (beam or ray). |
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Sources
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Extremely rare, found in all uranium ores. One ton of uranium contains about one tenth of a gram of actinium. Usually obtained by treating radium with neutrons in a reactor.
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Uses
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Used as a source of neutrons and for thermoelectric power. It has no other significant industrial applications.
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Notes
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It is about 150 times as radioactive as radium.
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Due to its intense radioactivity, Actinium glows in the dark with an eerie blue light. 227Ac is extremely radioactive, and in terms of its potential for radiation induced health effects, 227Ac is even more dangerous as plutonium. Ingesting even small amounts of 227Ac would present a serious health hazard.
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