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Words to understand Japan's radiation crisis

Word List with 9 words
By Dictionary.com

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Words in This List

control rod

a neutron-absorbing material, as boron or cadmium, in the shape of a rod or other configuration, that can be moved into or out of the core of a nuclear reactor to regulate the rate of fission.

gamma radiation

electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than approximately one tenth of a nanometer.

heavy water

water in which hydrogen atoms have been replaced by deuterium, used chiefly as a coolant in nuclear reactors.

meltdown

the melting of a significant portion of a nuclear-reactor core due to inadequate cooling of the fuel elements, a condition that could lead to the escape of radiation.

plutonium

a transuranic element with a fissile isotope of mass number 239

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radioisotope

a radioactive isotope, usually artificially produced: used in physical and biological research, therapeutics, etc.

reactor

an apparatus in which a nuclear-fission chain reaction can be initiated, sustained, and controlled, for generating heat or producing useful radiation.

uranium

a white, lustrous, radioactive, metallic element, occurring in pitchblende, and having compounds that are used in photography and in coloring glass. The 235 isotope is used in atomic and hydrogen bombs and as a fuel in nuclear reactors.

nuclear reactions

a process in which a nucleus that is bombarded by a photon, particle, or other nucleus, emits a nucleon, alpha particle, or the like, without a significant change in its atomic weight.