Nexus - 0702 - New Times Magazine-pages

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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE The rapid conversion of radioactive ele- ments to stable daughter elements can be accomplished by several other methods. The first such method was announced in 1979 by Radha Roy. X-rays (generated by a linear accelerator) were used to eject nuclei from the target, resulting in short- lived isotopes. Only 20 years later, the National Laboratory is developing a project for Accelerator Transmutation of Waste. The Australian inventor Yull Brown developed a novel method of electrolysing water to produce a compressed stoichomet- ric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen ions (popularly known as "Brown's Gas") that is burned in an approx. 2:1 ratio. Since the early 1980s, Yull Brown claimed to be able to transmute radioactive material into inert forms by fusing it in the flame produced by his hyfuel. His patents mention that "The invention also relates to atomic welding..." (USP #4,014,777 and #4,081,656). Yull Brown's first successful experiment with “Co (cobalt-60, or Co-60) radionu- clides reduced the activity by about 50% in 10 minutes. The process was replicated by the Baotou Nuclear Institute, China, in 1991. In a demonstration witnessed by [now former] US Congressman Berkley Bedell, the radioactivity of americium was quickly reduced by 2500% with the Brown's Gas torch. The Geiger counter reading regis- tered 16,000 curies/minute before, and less than 100 curies/minute afterwards. Congressman Bedell said: "It has been my good pleasure to witness experiments done by Dr Yull Brown, in which it appeared to me that he significant- ly reduced the radioactivity in several nuclear materials. Under the circum- stances, I believe it is very important for our federal government to completely investigate Dr Yull Brown's accomplish- ments in this area." If the US Government is completely investigating Brown's Gas, it is doing so in In a demonstration witnessed by [now former] US Congressman Berkley Bedell, the radioactivity of americium was quickly reduced by 2500% with the Brown's Gas torch. remediate nuclear waste by photonuclear reaction with gamma rays. The technology utilises principles of physics—e.g., giant dipole resonance—that have been over- looked in their possible application in treat- ment of nuclear waste. Brown states: "Photonuclear reactions induced by gamma ray absorption by the nucleus do not suffer the shortcomings of neutron reactions. Simply stated, the process is gamma irradiation with energies greater than the binding energy of the neutron to the nucleus. That is, a gamma photon of an energy equal to or greater than the binding energy which comes close to the nucleus is absorbed through giant dipole resonance resulting in the emission of a neutron. This well-known nuclear reaction has dramatic application to waste remediation... "The neutrons produced by the (y,1) pro- cessing may in turn be used for neutron transmutation by the processes... For many fission products, the neutron capture cross- sections in a thermal spectrum can give substantial transmutation rates..." Brown has proposed another application of giant dipole resonance in a theoretical Photon Reactor which would produce power by burning nuclear waste: "A linear accelerator, preferably of the monochromatic type, accelerates electrons which are directed onto a high Z target such as tungsten, to generate gamma rays about 9 MeV, which are directed onto the fuel material such as U-238 which results in the (y,f) reaction, thus releasing about 200 MeV. A reactor built according to this principle, requiring an accelerator driven by 1 MeV, will develop about 20 MW of power. The reaction is not self-sus- taining and stops when the beam is turned off. This accelerator-driven reactor may be used to burn up spent fuel from fission reactors, if simply operated at 10 MeV. The photo-fis- sion results in typical spent-fuel waste products such as Cs-137 and Sr-90 which undergo photodisintegration by the (y,f), resulting in short-lived or stable produc i of the spent-fuel isotopes is not neces- sary..."* Ronald Brightson (Clustron Sciences) has presented theoretical and experimental evidence for the validity of his own Nucleon Cluster Model (NCM), which predicts that a relatively low-energy photon can promote a nuclear reaction under certain specific conditions. Brightson complete secrecy. In August 1992, Yull Brown made another demonstration before several mem- bers of the Department of Energy and the Hon. Dan Haley, at the request of Congressman Bedell. The Geiger counter reading from Co-60 was reduced to 0.04% of the original level. Another demonstration was conducted for a group of Japanese nuclear scientists, at which time Co-60 was reduced from 24,000 mR/hr to 12,000 mR/hr with one brief treatment.>” Paul Brown (Nuclear Solutions, Aurora, Colorado) has developed a novel method to "Houston, | think there may be a problem...” 52 - NEXUS In a demonstration FEBRUARY — MARCH 2000