In the house. (Letters).The article on the half-life of bismuth-209 ("Not even bismuth-209 lasts forever," SN: 5/3/03, p. 286) says that the alpha decay alpha decay Type of radioactive disintegration (see radioactivity) in which some unstable atomic nuclei dissipate excess energy by spontaneously ejecting an alpha particle. of bismuth-209 was not listed in any reference table. As much as I hate to disagree, the "Chart of the Nuclides," 12th edition revised to April 1977, by Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) is a research and development facility dedicated to the support of the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program — a joint program of the United States Navy and United States Department of Energy, responsible for the research, design, for Naval Reactors, USDOE USDOE United States Department of Education USDOE United States Department Of Energy , that I have hanging on my wall lists the half-life of bismuth-209 as greater than or equal to 2 x [10.sup.18] years with an alpha-particle-decay mode of 3.07 million electronvolts. JAMES A. BRADBURY, GROTON, CONN CONN Connecticut (old style) CONN Connection CONN Connector CONN Connotation . |
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