Chemical Forums
Specialty Chemistry Forums => Nuclear Chemistry and Radiochemistry Forum => Topic started by: kriggy on August 09, 2020, 06:55:05 AM
-
The question is fairly obvious. Im staring a job in september which consists of synthesis of radiolabeled compounds (T, 14C, 125I) and I was wondering if there is someone working in similar field and can give me some advice or some general tips or share their experience.
-
Hi Kriggy,
I have never made radioisotopically labeled compounds, but I have made a few with stable isotopes. I don't have much in the way of practical advice. Things which are ordinarily cheap (like water) become quite expensive when they are labeled. One has to adjust one's thinking accordingly.
People who work with tritium have said in casual conversation to me that because detecting it is not as easy as detecting C-14 for example, that one has to be extra careful regarding its handling. The same probably holds true for synthesis involving tritium.
EDT
I second the suggestion of reading or taking a course in radiation safety. I recently had to prepare a lecture on basic nuclear chemistry, and it was surprising to find out what I did not know.
-
Take a course in radioprotection maybe? Or at least, read and meditate a book.
125I isn't harmless: it serves for radiation therapy.
-
@babcock_hall: Im surely going to get training in the safety but its not bad idea to read some in advance. Lucliky, most of the work will include optimization using non-radioactive isotopes and only after the conditions are developed the hot isotope is going to be used. Yes, It was mentioned that everything is going to be super expensive since they often start with tritium gas :D THe boss told me that its worth to spend a week worth of work to make their own LiAlT4 or whatever they need for the single reaction insteaed of buying.
-
Tritium serves in the booster of plutonium weapons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boosted_fission_weapon
and the resupply of tritium must be the reason why France and the UK want nuclear power plants, since plutonium is overabundant now.
In France, tritium would be a state secret and the French secret services would inevitably make huge problems to anyone who uses tritium. I hope tritium isn't a secret in a country that builds no nuclear weapons, and that your secret services are not as stupid as the French ones are.
-
And did you start the job?
Maybe future bombs won't need tritium any more. I suggested elsewhere to boost plutonium bombs with D-D instead, and then countries with nuclear weapons won't need nuclear power plants any more to resupply the tritium. I have no idea whether this is feasible, but D. Trump talked briefly about making new nuclear tests, possibly a hint at a tentative D-D design. Getting rid of nuclear plants would save several 100G€. Whether tritium won't be a state secret any more then?
I dearly wish your secret services (CZ ?) are less stupid than the French ones. Yesterday I got attacked, possibly just because I had imagined that France's 140kt warheads might be oversized single stages rather than two-stages Teller-Ulam designs. Never worked on that, no information about it, no competence, hence no legal excuse for a professional secret, but apparently it sufficed.
-
Yes I did. Actually, the job involves way less work with radioactve material than I expected. I dont immagine getting in trouble with secret service, we dont have any warhead and our lab has only tiny amounts of radioactive material
-
I forgot to mention that there is a publication called the Journal of labelled compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals.