This clip shows as the late dean of actinide chemists, Burris Cunningham, a long-time faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. He achieved worldwide fame in the techniques of microchemistry, more particularly ultramicrochemistry, In 1942 he began work in the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago. He achieved lasting fame as the man who, together with his co-worker, Louis B. Werner, was the first to isolate a visible quantity of a synthetic chemical element on August 20, 1942 . Cunningham and those working under his direction applied his ultramicrochemical techniques to determine the chemical properties of plutonium. This knowledge was required for its production in quantity at Hanford, Washington. After WWII, he and his coworkers were the first to isolate in weighable quantities the even heavier synthetic elements--americium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, and his close co-workers were the first to isolate neptunium and curium. In the course of this and a tremendous output of beautiful ultramicrochemical work on these elements, he became the world's leading chemical investigator of the actinide elements and one of the foremost inorganic chemists of his time. Plutonium is a radioactive material that is produced in nuclear reactors; only trace amounts occur naturally. It has been found to cause lung, liver, and bone cancer in workers. For more information on plutonium hazards go to http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts143.html . In this clip he mentions to need to do work inside a glovebox. A glovebox (or glove box) is a sealed container that is designed to allow one to manipulate objects where a separate atmosphere is desired. Built into the sides of the glovebox are gloves arranged in such a way that the user can place his or her hands into the gloves and perform tasks inside the box without breaking containment. Part or all of the box is usually transparent to allow the user to see what is being manipulated. Two types of gloveboxes exist: one allows a person to work with hazardous substances, such as radioactive materials or infectious disease agents; the other allows manipulation of substances that must be contained within a very high purity inert atmosphere, such as argon or nitrogen. It is also possible to use a glovebox for manipulation of items in a vacuum chamber. Glovebox use began in the 1940s to contain radioactive materials and to protect scientists and researchers who were experimenting with hazardous materials. The diameter of the ports were small to limit the potential exposure to users. The department of energy, NASA, and many military produdion and research facilities began using gloveboxes for handling every thing from plutonium to the first rocks retrieved from the moon. For more on gloveboxes, go to the website of the non-profit The American Glovebox Society (AGS) at http://www.gloveboxsociety.org/ . This was clipped from the 1962 film, 'Transuranium Elements, 23m, dir. J. Arthur Campbell/Hal Geer, prod. David W. Ridgway. This classic film is hosted by Glenn Seaborg, Nobel Prize winner and discoverer of Plutonium. Here, he features three principal chemists in the discovery and identification of the transuranium elements, Burris Cunningham, Stanley Thompson and Albert Ghiorso. The film reviews methods and techniques for discovery and identification of transuranium elements. The entire film has been digitized and is available at the Internet Archive at www.archive.com .
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Glove Box Removalby richpin06a23,628 views
Exposure to Plutonium seems to do something strange to your hair.
WOODRUFFAPTS 1 year ago
need more
vmelkon 1 year ago
Interesting old video clip.
It it always a good idea to protect ones self from alpha particles.
ALARAiswise 1 year ago