Comments by "Helium Road" (@RCAvhstape) on "Today I Found Out"
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Here's a bonus fact I was hoping you'd mention: In the 50s or 60s there was a machine called the "Lady Godiva Device" which was an unshielded nuclear reactor. It was used by US nuclear scientists to create short bursts of radiation for testing purposes, and it was basically a metal framework with two fuel elements. One element was fixed and had a hole through it, and the other element slid down a rail and passed through the hole as it fell. For a brief moment, as the two elements passed, they formed a critical mass and reacted, creating a blast of neutrons and gamma rays, which would be used to dose items placed nearby. The reaction was less than a second, so the thing wasn't supposed to get hot enough to need a cooling system, but there was an accident once when the element didn't slide fast enough and the reaction created enough heat to bend the metal structure and wreck the machine. From what I've read the machine was operated out in the open air desert in a pit, and the operators stayed a safe distance away. I don't know why it was called Lady Godiva but I would guess because it's a "naked" reactor, maybe?
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