The Chernobyl reactor accident in what is now Ukraine was the worst nuclear disaster of all time.

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The Chernobyl reactor accident in what is now Ukraine was the worst nuclear disaster of all time. Fission products from the reactor core spread over a wide area. The primary radiation exposure to people in western Europe was due to the short-lived (half-life 8.0 days) isotope \({ }^{131} \mathrm{I}\), which fell across the landscape and was ingested by grazing cows that concentrated the isotope in their milk. Farmers couldn't sell the contaminated milk, so many opted to use the milk to make cheese, aging it until the radioactivity decayed to acceptable levels. How much time must elapse for the activity of a block of cheese containing \({ }^{131} \mathrm{I}\) to drop to \(1.0 \%\) of its initial value?

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College Physics A Strategic Approach

ISBN: 9780321907240

3rd Edition

Authors: Randall D. Knight, Brian Jones, Stuart Field

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