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Katie Mummah
@nuclearkatie.com
Nuclear engineer, PhD student UW-Madison. nuclear: energy, history, waste, nonproliferation. "Tells uranium's life story". Lives in New Mexico. Outdoors when I'm not actively working on graduating. Views mine. she/her nuclearkatie.com
1k followers432 following494 posts
KMnuclearkatie.com

More nuclear energy industry is coming to New Mexico. Traditionally, nuclear in NM has meant "nuclear weapons", more so than almost anywhere else. But Kairos is betting big on benefits from being near the labs, for energy and not weapons #NukeSkywww.neimagazine.com/news/kairos-...

Kairos Power expands operations in New Mexico
Kairos Power expands operations in New Mexico

US-based Kairos Power is expanding its operations in New Mexico to build three facilities and create 100 jobs. Kairos Power…

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KMnuclearkatie.com

Woohoooo!!!

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Reposted by Katie Mummah

you are LOVED you are WORTHY that hiker did NOT get a clear photograph of you your existence REMAINS unverified

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KMnuclearkatie.com

Yeah! We just got the pictures yesterday too. I'm going to write up a little blog post about it and then I'm going to make everyone have to (get to) hear all about it!

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KMnuclearkatie.com

It was a great tour! I've never been in containment during refueling before and I was really grateful for the opportunity!

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Reposted by Katie Mummah
LTshookegg.bsky.social

In grad school we would joke that you solve any real physics problem by doing a Fourier transform, Taylor expand, and integrate by parts, until a prof told us "unironically yes" and I think about that any time someone claims physics is some mystical big-brained science

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Reposted by Katie Mummah
CMcourtneymilan.com

It is much, much easier to do a Fourier transform than to figure out why someone is having seizures.

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KMnuclearkatie.com

As a not-nuclear-chemist, it is kind of surprising to me that no one has made a simultaneous ICP-MS and LIBS system, but I'm glad they did! These are two important techniques! 🧪 paper: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Uranium Single Particle Analysis for Simultaneous Fluorine and Uranium Isotopic Determinations via Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy/Laser Ablation–Multicollector–Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry
Uranium Single Particle Analysis for Simultaneous Fluorine and Uranium Isotopic Determinations via Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy/Laser Ablation–Multicollector–Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry

Uranyl fluoride (UO2F2) particles (<20 μm) were subjected to first-of-its-kind analysis via simultaneous laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA–MC–ICP–MS). Briefly, a nanosecond pulsed high-energy laser was focused onto the sample (particle) surface. In a single laser pulse, the UO2F2 particle was excited/ionized within the microplasma volume, and the emission of light was collected via fiber optics such that emission spectroscopy could be employed for the detection of uranium (U) and fluorine (F). The ablated particle was simultaneously transported into the MC–ICP–MS for high precision isotopic (i.e., 234U, 235U, and 238U) analysis. This method, LIBS/LA–MC–ICP–MS was optimized and employed to rapidly measure 80+ UO2F2 particles, which were subjected to different calcination processes, which results in varying degrees of F loss from the individual particles. In measuring the particles, the average F/U ratios for the populations treated at 100 and 500 °C were 2.78 ± 1.28 and 1.01 ± 0.50, respectively, confirming loss of F through the calcination process. The average 235U/238U on the particle populations for the 100 and 500 °C were 0.007262 (22) and 0.007231 (23), which was determined to be <0.2% from the expected value. The 234U/238U ratios on the same particles were 0.000053 (11) and 0.000050 (10) for the 100 and 500 °C, respectively, <10% from the expected value. Notably, each population was analyzed in under 5 min, demonstrating the truly rapid analysis technique presented here.

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KMnuclearkatie.com

Simultaneous single-particle uranium isotopic determination and fluorine detection is a useful new capability for nonproliferation and international safeguards. UF6 is the chemical form used in uranium enrichment, a key step in the nuclear fuel cycle #NukeSkyphys.org/news/2024-09... 🧪

Simultaneous detection of uranium isotopes and fluorine advances nuclear nonproliferation monitoring
Simultaneous detection of uranium isotopes and fluorine advances nuclear nonproliferation monitoring

Combining two techniques, analytical chemists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have become the first to detect fluorine and different isotopes of uranium in a single particl...

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KM
Katie Mummah
@nuclearkatie.com
Nuclear engineer, PhD student UW-Madison. nuclear: energy, history, waste, nonproliferation. "Tells uranium's life story". Lives in New Mexico. Outdoors when I'm not actively working on graduating. Views mine. she/her nuclearkatie.com
1k followers432 following494 posts