strontium 90

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strontium 90


n.
a harmful radioactive isotope of strontium, produced in certain nuclear reactions and present in their fallout.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

strontium 90

A radioactive isotope of strontium having a mass number of 90 and a half-life of 28 years. Strontium 90 is the most dangerous component of the fallout from nuclear explosions because it can be absorbed by the body. It is also used in medicine to treat cancer.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.strontium 90 - a radioactive isotope of strontium (with the mass number 90) that is present in the fallout from nuclear explosions; can be assimilated like calcium into bones
atomic number 38, Sr, strontium - a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element of the alkali metal group; turns yellow in air; occurs in celestite and strontianite
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References in periodicals archive
The groundwater contains radioactive strontium 90, which can cause bone cancer and leukemia.
Officials in Poland seized a batch of counterfeit cigarettes found to contain strontium 90.
Louis physicians, who measured levels of the radioactive isotope Strontium 90 in young children's baby teeth.
The isotope Strontium 90, released into the atmosphere by the A-bombs, was believed to have changed the genes of the children in the womb in some positive way, creating a superior version of the human genome.
The leaked water contains 230 million becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances, consisting mainly of cancer-causing strontium 90, according to TEPCO.
The legal limit for releasing strontium 90, which has a half life of around 29 years, into the sea is 30 becquerels per litre.
TEPCO detected 200,000 becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances including strontium 90.
If we could see radioactivity, we'd think a lot of places were "permanently scarred" - for while the strontium 90 mentioned in that report has a half-life of a mere 29 years, plutonium 239's half-life is 24,000 years and those of iodine 129 and uranium 235 are well into the millions of years.
| SIR - Tepco, the owner of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear reactors, said last week that it had discovered high levels of radioactive strontium 90 and tritium in a well located just 27 metres from the Pacific Ocean.
When they were putting breakfast on the table, they saw not only Wheaties and milk, but also strontium 90 and iodine 131 ..." The heroic Mrs.
The random generator was made up of a radioactive source (strontium 90), a Geiger counter, and a four-step electronic switch controlling four lamps.
A similar situation exists with radioactive Strontium 90, which concentrates itself in bones causing cancers there.
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