Magnet is radiation cure?

What are magnetic and electrical effects on radioactive material?


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reply to post by raj10463


Generally zip.

You can affect beta decay rates for isotopes that undergo beta or inverse beta decay with a strong electric field. Somewhat.

Magnetic fields, no. Except if an isotope emits a charged particle when it decays, you can make it go round and round with a magnetic field.

Also, with very VERY energetic gamma rays (which doesn't exactly fit your question) you can cause direct photodissociation of nuclei.

I will copy a post I made a few years ago:

I will however, share with you why I have a positive attitude about this right now, it is because I believe there is a way to accomplish long-term decontamination of the soil and ground water, and possibly the ocean.

However the problem is, we do not have this technology nor the capacity for it currently, and it would take a massive global project to develop this technology (and potentially many years).

I will explain my logic.
STS-75
Space tether wiki

After looking into the famous 'tether incident' and reading about the technology they were testing, it occurred to me that there could actually be something we can do to 'repel' or 'magnetically control' radioactive isotopes in a direct and singular fashion.

I don't have a clue how this would work, but my guesstimate is that there may be some method of using electro-magnetic forces to isolate and 'magnetically' attract individual isotopes and suck them into a type of vacuum system in order to contain it.

Originally posted by muzzleflash
After looking into the famous 'tether incident' and reading about the technology they were testing, it occurred to me that there could actually be something we can do to 'repel' or 'magnetically control' radioactive isotopes in a direct and singular fashion.

There's nothing different about radioactive isotopes, except that they're unstable. They will react to magnetic fields in exactly the same manner as the non-radioactive ones.

The tether thing is straightforward field theory. It's moving a loop through a magnetic field, pure Faraday. The US is experimenting with it to deorbit satellites by causing drag.

what about magnetizing non magnetic material? I am trying to figure out how a machine could turn off a nuclear reactor. I mean totally shut down all reactions and make a nuclear plant cold. Could a magnet suck up radioactive particles?

Originally posted by raj10463
what about magnetizing non magnetic material? I am trying to figure out how a machine could turn off a nuclear reactor. I mean totally shut down all reactions and make a nuclear plant cold. Could a magnet suck up radioactive particles?

You can't magnetize non magnetic material, by definition.

You can't turn off a nuclear reactor with an external field of some sort. And no, magnets don't suck up radioactive particles.

reply to post by raj10463


the only way to stop a nuclear reactor is to remove the fuel, depending on the design, you might have control rods that are placed into the system to help slow and stop the reaction.

No external "field" can do this. This isn't to say some new technology that would appear to be magic won't be invented to do just this.

Magnets, no.

And your thread title, if not completely confusing, is misleading. A Magnet is not a cure for anything other than, well, a lack of a magnetic field. Radiation can't be cured, as it's not an ailment. Radiation is radioactive material decaying and losing electrons or what not.

Star trek technology doesn't exist yet unfortunately.

All materials are slightly diamagnetic apparently.

Therefore the correct specific electromagnetic field can affect corresponding specific materials.

Correct this if it is wrong, and explain in depth why.

Originally posted by muzzleflash
All materials are slightly diamagnetic apparently.

Therefore the correct specific electromagnetic field can affect corresponding specific materials.

Correct this if it is wrong, and explain in depth why.

Your last sentence is error-free, the others, not so much.

Some materials are magnetic. Some paramagnetic, others diamagnetic. Without looking, I'd suspect some are so close to zero as makes no difference and are none of the above.

Diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials are generally very little affected by a magnetic field. The amount of attraction or repulsion is spectacularly low. A few are very diamagnetic or paramagnetic, and you might actually be able to observe it without very specialized instruments.

However, there is no "specific magnetic field" which affects only specific materials, even worse, specific isotopes of those materials.

reply to post by Bedlam


Being close to zero is something.

Diamagnetism is the property of an object or material that causes it to create a magnetic field in opposition to an externally applied magnetic field. It is a quantum mechanical effect that occurs in all materials; where it is the only contribution to the magnetism the material is called a diamagnet. Unlike a ferromagnet, a diamagnet is not a permanent magnet. Its magnetic permeability is less than μ0 (the permeability of free space). In most materials diamagnetism is a weak effect, but a superconductor repels the magnetic field entirely, apart from a thin layer at the surface.

Diamagnetism wiki

Levitation technology being developed :

Diamagnets may be levitated in stable equilibrium in a magnetic field, with no power consumption.

The Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, has conducted experiments where water and other substances were successfully levitated. Most spectacularly, a live frog (see figure) was levitated.

In September 2009, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California announced they had successfully levitated mice using a superconducting magnet,[6] an important step forward since mice are closer biologically to humans than frogs.[7] They hope to perform experiments regarding the effects of microgravity on bone and muscle mass.

Obviously if this can be done to complex things, it would be possible with simple ones.
It's in it's infant stages but over the next 100 years the tech will show a lot of promise I bet.
Where there is a will, there is a way.

reply to post by muzzleflash


It's not something that has the effect you want, though, any more than gravity.