The high school material makes use of remote-operated “RoboLab” experiments that were developed by the Universities of Oslo (UiO) and Hannover (LUH) during CINCH-II. RoboLabs allow students to remotely operate an experiment in a real radiochemical laboratory using modern computer-controlled hardware. In consultation with high school teachers, NNL identified two RoboLabs that seemed suitable for high school students. Following this, teaching material was developed that introduces students to the background theory and context.
Each year, tens of millions of lives are saved by nuclear medicine procedures which use radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) to diagnose and treat a wide variety of illnesses like cancer, cardiovascular disease and brain disorders.
In this lesson, students will conduct a virtual column chromatography experiment to produce Yttrium-90 (90Y), an important radioisotope that can be used to treat liver cancer. Radioactive materials can be dangerous when handled improperly, and therefore this experiment must be conducted remotely.
Working in small groups, students will explore how other radioisotopes can be used in nuclear medicine, recognising the importance of selecting suitable chemical and radioactive properties for different applications.
Chromatography in action - Slides
When uranium rods are used as nuclear fuel, they undergo fission to produce energy. However, fission only occurs in a fraction of the uranium in the rods, 95% of the rod remains uranium. Pyro-processing uses an electrochemical cell to recycle the valuable uranium to create new fuel rods.
In this lesson, students will understand how pyro-processing can be used to create a closed nuclear fuel cycle. They will then investigate redox reactions in electrochemical cells and how this enables pyro-processing. Students will conduct an electrolysis experiment using copper (II) sulfate to demonstrate an electrochemical cell.