[null and void]

Nor did they tell her about the scientist at the Manhattan project who touched plutonium for some reason to save others in the room and he died a horrific death.

They were "tickling the tail of the dragon", bringing two slightly sub critical masses close together to calibrate the reaction rate.

The top piece slipped and landed on IN CONTACT WITH the bottom piece.

This produced a spike of radiation so intense there was a brilliant flash of blue Čerenkov radiation.

In effect it became a nuclear reactor at full power, with no shielding, the scientist grabbed the top piece and removed it, stopping the reaction in its tracks.

Too late for him, he was effectively touching part of a neutron bomb and had received a lethal dose of radiation.

But he did save the people in the rest of the building...

[cripplecreek]

They were "tickling the tail of the dragon", bringing two slightly sub critical masses close together to calibrate the reaction rate.

I remember reading about that. The scientist in contact made everyone else in the room stop at that moment and mark where they were at in the room to study the effect of radiation on them over various distances.

[dp0622]

Wow! If he didn’t lift the top part off, how bad would it have gotten?

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

Bingo!

He was dead the moment he saw the blue flash... it just hadn’t caught up with him yet. So grabbing the plutonium wasn’t an act of self-sacrifice (though it was still noble and laudable in the service of others); he just punched his ticket a little faster...

[dp0622]

They were “tickling the tail of the dragon”, bringing two slightly sub critical masses close together to calibrate the reaction rate. The top piece slipped and landed on IN CONTACT WITH the bottom piece. This produced a spike of radiation so intense there was a brilliant flash of blue ÄŒerenkov radiation. In effect it became a nuclear reactor at full power, with no shielding, the scientist grabbed the top piece and removed it, stopping the reaction in its tracks.

I would love to know what this means. It is hard to grasp. And harder for knowledgeable people like yourself to break down into idiot terms for people like me lol The scary part is you probably think you’ve already broken it down into idiot terms lol. What does that say about me!!

[alexander_busek]

This produced a spike of radiation so intense there was a brilliant flash of blue Čerenkov radiation.

I wouldn't have thought that the difference in the phase velocity of light in air at s.t.p. as compared with in a vacuum would suffice for the charged particles released by such an accidental event to create a noticeable amount of Čerenkov radiation.

Can you elucidate?

Regards,

[Salgak]

You forgot the REST of the story. He told everyone not to move. He then chalked around his feet, and then the feet of everyone else, to get their position and distance relative to the critical mass.

Yes, he died, within days. And most of the others, within weeks or months.

But he got the data from the event.

And THAT, friends, is a genuine scientist. . .

[HiTech RedNeck]

Boys will be boys, playing with dangerous things.