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Plutonium Quotes

Browse 35 quotes about Plutonium.

Plutonium Quotes

“The latest element to turn up is called plutonium--which is Disney with a touch of mineral water. The word uranium had a mighty sound, a solemn sound, an awful sound. Plutonium is a belly laugh. Plutonium, incidentally, is not known in the stars; the stars are too high-minded. Plutonium is a mouthwash used by Mandrake. Plutonium is just something belonging to the comical race of people who started their first atomic fire under a football stadium.”

HumorComedyElementsAtomic EnergyPlutoniumAtomic WeaponsAtomic Power
Book:The Wild Flag: Editorials from the New Yorker on Federal World Government and Other Matters
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“It would be nice to think that the menacing aspects of North Korea were for display also, that the bombs and reactors were Potemkin showcases or bargaining chips. On the plane from Beijing I met a group of unsmiling Texan types wearing baseball caps. They were the 'in-country' team from the International Atomic Energy Agency, there to inspect and neutralize North Korea's plutonium rods. Not a nice job, but, as they say, someone has to do it. Speaking of the most controversial reactor at Yongbyon, one of the guys said, 'No sweat. She's shut down now.' Nice to know. But then, so is the rest of North Korean society shut down—animation suspended, all dead quiet on the set, endlessly awaiting not action (we hope) or even cameras, but light.”

ChinaBombsTexasNuclear WeaponsNorth KoreaBeijingPlutoniumBaseball Caps2000North Korea And WmdIaeaNyongbyon
Book:Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays
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“The doctors made plans to collect biological samples--tissues, urine, feces--all of which would be tested for the presence of plutonium, to see how it would travel, how much of it would remain in the body, and what effect it might have on HP-12 [Ebb Cade]. The day after the injection [April, 1945], Dr. Friedell sent news to Los Alamos. "I think we will have access to considerable clinical material here and we hope to do a number of subjects," he wrote.”

WwiiPlutoniumAtomic Medical Effects ResearchBlack Medical SubjectsHuman TestingOak Ridge
Author:Denise Kiernan
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“I, who had been in favour of nuclear energy for generating electricity ... I suddenly realised that anybody who has a nuclear reactor can extract the plutonium from the reactor and make nuclear weapons, so that a country which has a nuclear reactor can, at any moment that it wants to, become a nuclear weapons power. And I, right from the beginning, have been terribly worried by the existence of nuclear weapons and very much against their use.”

WantHas BeensCountryMomentsUseEnergyExistenceWeaponsNuclearWorriedNuclear WeaponsElectricityFavourRealisedNuclear EnergyPlutoniumNuclear Reactors
Author:Mark Oliphant
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“There's no razor in candy. If for no other reason, it doesn't make financial sense. It's not fiscally prudent. How much does a piece of candy cost - like, a penny and a half? An apple's like 15 cents? Anybody here bought a Mach 3 replacement cartridge recently? They're so expensive, they don't even keep them on the shelf. You know, you have to ask the people behind the counter. I feel like I'm trying to buy enriched plutonium or something.”

PeopleIfsKnowsFeelsTryingDoeReasonAsksBehindsHalfPiecesCostFinancialApplesExpensiveCentsShelvesCandyPenniesPrudentRazorsReplacementsPlutonium
Author:Arj Barker
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“Most of my scientific work has been basic research. There were no immediate uses for my discoveries, but today the radioisotopes are the workhorses of nuclear medicine, an isotope of plutonium is a major energy source in the space program, and the element americium is critical to the smoke detectors in every house in the country.”

Has BeensCountryUseTodayHouseEnergySpaceSourceElementsMajorsResearchDiscoveryProgramMedicineCriticalNuclearSmokeEnergy SourcesSpace ProgramPlutoniumBasic ResearchIsotopes
Author:Glenn T. Seaborg
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“There was a concept a long time ago that you would do a different type of reactor called a "fast reactor," that would make a bunch of another element called plutonium, and then you would pull that out, and then you would burn that. That's called "breeding" in a fast reactor. That is bad because plutonium is nuclear weapons material. It's messy. The processing you have to get through is not only environmentally difficultly, it's extremely expensive.”

LongDifferentMaterialsTypeElementsWeaponsLong TimeConceptsNuclearBunchExpensiveNuclear WeaponsLong Time AgoMessyBreedingProcessingPlutonium
Author:Bill Gates
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“Almost all of the governments have agreed that they will not acquire nuclear weapons and that they will allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor their commercial and research nuclear power operations to ensure that nuclear materials - highly enriched uranium and plutonium - are not diverted to use in weapons.”

UseGovernmentEnergyMaterialsWeaponsResearchInternationalNuclearOperationsAgencyAcquireNuclear WeaponsNuclear PowerUraniumAtomic EnergyPlutonium
Author:John Burroughs
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“To say that the United States has pursued diplomacy with North Korea is a little bit misleading. It did under the Clinton administration, though neither side completely lived up to their obligations. Clinton didn't do what was promised, nor did North Korea, but they were making progress. So when Bush came into the presidency, North Korea had enough uranium or plutonium for maybe one or two bombs, but then very limited missile capacity. During the Bush years it's exploded. The reason is, he immediately canceled the diplomacy and he's pretty much blocked it ever since.”

YearsLittlesTwoStatesReasonEnoughBitsSidesUnitedUnited StatesProgressLittle BitCapacityClintonObligationAdministrationBombsPresidencyDiplomacyKoreaPursuedNorth KoreaMisleadMissilesHad EnoughBlockedUraniumPlutonium
Author:Noam Chomsky
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“For 50 years, nuclear power stations have produced three products which only a lunatic could want: bomb-explosive plutonium, lethal radioactive waste and electricity so dear it has to be heavily subsidised. They leave to future generations the task, and most of the cost, of making safe sites that have been polluted half-way to eternity.”

WayWantYearsHas BeensThreeHalfGenerationsProductsCostSafeWasteTasksEternityDearNuclearBombsStationsSiteElectricityFuture GenerationLunaticExplosivesNuclear PowerHalf WayPlutoniumNuclear WasteRadioactive Waste
Author:James Buchan
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“I want to see us to explore outer space. But I want to do it safely, without the loss of human life, and democratically: where is the free-wheeling debate on this question? Only one force can stop this mission: the will of the American people. They have not been asked. Do they want to endanger their loved ones, their industry with this launch? One force is more powerful than plutonium, the spirit of the American people united.”

PeopleWantHumansSpiritEnergyForceLossSpaceUnitedPowerfulIndustryMissionsDebateHuman LifeLoved OnesRenewable EnergyOuter SpacePlutoniumWheeling
Author:Michio Kaku
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