In The News
The New York Times reported in 2005 that a reactor at INL would be used to manufacture plutonium-238, most of it for classified national security purposes. This isotope is known for its intense alpha decay, which is useful in making extremely long-lived power sources such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG)s for deep space probes and heart pacemaker batteries. INL has 52 reactors, three of which are reportedly still operating (see list of nuclear reactors). The Idaho State Journal reported that the batteries would be used for a voyage to Jupiter's moons and the New Horizons trip to Pluto.
Read more about this topic: Idaho National Laboratory
Famous quotes containing the word news:
“The good news may be that Nature is phasing out the white man, but the bad news is that’s who She thinks we all are.”
—Alice Walker (b. 1944)