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Lab in a Box
Lab in a box is an instrument designed to explain the basic principles of radiochemistry to students and general public in a creative and intuitive way using nothing more than a few easily-obtainable proprieties.
Radioactive Nuclei - Decay and Half-life Demonstration
Radioactive decay is the process by which an unstable nucleus releases energy in the form of particles or waves, to become more stable. This process happens over time and nuclei have a certain probability of decaying, but it is random as to which individual nucleus will decay. The time taken for half of the radioactive nuclei in a sample to have decayed is known as the half-life.
The students will take part in a practical activity to demonstrate the random decay of radioactive nuclides, modelled as skittles, and calculate the half-life in terms of box shakes.
decay_and_half-life_stem_ambassador_guide.pdf
decay_and_half-life_risk_assessment.pdf
Fission and Chain Reactions
Nuclear fission is the process of an unstable atom (uranium-235 or plutonium-239) splitting into two smaller atoms (fission products), producing two or three free neutrons and releasing a very large amount of energy. Fission is the process by which energy is produced in a nuclear reactor. To control this reaction, control rods are used.
The students will take part in a practical demonstration to help understand how a large atomic nucleus can be split into two smaller particles, which will release neutrons and create a chain reaction.
Keeping Nuclear Materials Safe
The activity is designed to raise awareness and understanding that adoption of advanced nuclear technologies presents challenges that must be addressed. A critical component of benefiting from nuclear technologies is our ability to ensure that the sector’s sites, materials, technology and people remain safe and secure. Jobs involved in these safeguarding activities make up a large and important part of the nuclear sector.
imposter_keeping_nuclear_materials_safe_stem_ambassador_guide.pdf
Nuclear Contamination
Radiochemists have to work carefully to prevent the spread of radioactive material. They must take special precautions to ensure that the radioactive material doesn’t get ingested or onto their skin. To do this, radiochemists have a special way of removing their gloves. There is a technique that they use to take off their gloves which stops any of the radioactive material from touching the scientist’s skin.
This activity gets the students to have a go at using the glove removal technique, where they can visually see if they’ve been able to prevent the spread of contamination by using UV powder and a black light (a UV torch).
Radiation Around Us
All of us are exposed to radiation every day, from natural sources such as minerals in the ground, and man-made sources such as medical X-rays. When people hear the word radiation, they often think of atomic energy, nuclear power, and radioactivity, but radiation has many different forms and comes from many other sources.
Radioactive objects surround us every day, in and out of our home. This activity is designed to show that radiation is everywhere and is completely safe, up to a certain limit.
radiation_around_us_stem_ambassador_guide.pdf
Radiation Robots
Nuclear activities in the past have generated ‘legacy waste’. This is very hazardous radioactive waste that we now need to handle and safely dispose of. We need to separate this waste, but it is too hazardous for human to approach or handle so we use robots and remote handling.
Nuclear Medicine: Separating Radionuclides
In 21st century medicine, radioisotopes play a huge role in cancer treatments and diagnostics. As medicine develops the use of radioisotopes will increase. This activity highlights how radionuclides with specific properties are separated and isolated for their use in cancer treatments. Specifically, a new type of treatment called Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) is considered.
separating_radionuclides_stem_ambassador_guide.pdf
Structural Energy
Salt has an ionic lattice crystal structure. However, this structure is not perfect, and defects can be present. When material is irradiated with gamma radiation energy, some of the electrons in the sodium chloride crystal move to a higher energy state. The crystalline structure of the sodium chloride allows some of these electrons to be trapped in energy levels above the ground state. These trapped electrons cause the crystals to change colour (to orange-brown). This is because the repositioned electrons affect the way that light is reflected by the crystal.
When the sample is heated, there is sufficient energy for the electrons to escape the energy well. These electrons return to their ground state by emitting energy in the form of light. This is thermal fluorescence. The amount of light released is proportional to the amount of radiation energy absorbed by the crystal.
structural_energy_stem_ambassador_guide.pdf
Think Inside the Box
When handling any hazardous material, we need to protect ourselves and the environment. Radiochemists handle radioactive materials every day. Radioactive materials emit some or all of alpha, beta and gamma radiation. We have protective measure to protect lab staff from each of these forms of radiation. Glove boxes are used to shield radiochemists from alpha radiatio