As the material of choice used as the radiation shielding in
the warp nacelles of the first Starship Enterprise, is osmium the best
radiation shielding material out there?
By: Ringo Bones
From a nuclear engineering standpoint, when the subject of
using osmium as a radiation shielding material – every competent engineer will
be concerned about costs. After all, even though the metal itself is not
regularly flashed during the commodities segment of the NYSE – just by
belonging in the platinum group of metals only makes one safely assume that
osmium could be closer in price to either platinum or palladium – its other two
siblings regularly monitored on the ticker tape of the commodities markets.
Cost concerns aside, is osmium truly a better radiation shielding material in
comparison to ones currently used – i.e. like lead, steel or concrete?
It was in the Season 2 episode of Star Trek: Enterprise
titled The Catwalk – which was originally aired back in December 18, 2002 –
where osmium was mentioned as the radiation shielding used in the warp nacelles
of the Starship Enterprise. The subject came about because during a deadly
radioactive storm in space threatens Enterprise, the entire crew took shelter
in the starship’s warp nacelles which were the most shielded part of the ship
against radiation. And given that most radiation shielding currently used are
known for their relatively high density – i.e. lead, steel and concrete – does
this mean that the densest nonradioactive we currently know, osmium at 22.5
grams per cubic centimeter at almost twice the density of lead, is the more ideal
radioactive shielding material?
Using current International Atomic Energy Agency standards
in commercial nuclear fission power plants – and future nuclear fusion power
plants are more than likely to comply with this figure for safety of both human
personnel and electronics – adequate shielding consists in reducing radiation
levels to values approximately as follows: in the gamma radiation wavelengths –
2,750 Mev per square cm/second; fast neutrons – 75 neutrons per square cm/second;
and thermal neutrons – 3,600 neutrons per square cm/second. For humans – and
other humanoid carbon based life-forms and the electronic systems on the
Starship Enterprise to perform efficiently, not to mention stay healthy,
Captain Jonathan Archer would probably stick with the IAEA’s established
occupational radiation level standards.
4 comments:
Osmium is a common radiation shielding for warp nacelles of 22nd Century era NX class starships - like the Enterprise NX-01.
Even though lead is a commonly used shielding against ionizing radiation - like X-Rays and gamma radiation - due to its lower cost, there hasn't been a published scientific comparison between which is better at blocking ionizing radiation - lead or osmium. Even though it is not currently running on the NY Mercantile Exchange stock ticker like its related cousins platinum and palladium, I think osmium on a per troy ounce basis, since it is indeed classified as a precious metal in the platinum group, is probably closer in price to palladium. Osmium is much denser / heavier than lead though and most materials that are very effective in shielding against X-Rays and gamma rays tend to have high density.
Given that osmium has twice the density per cubic volume as lead, there's no published scientific comparison on how much more effective osmium is in blocking ionizing radiation like X-Rays and gamma rays - either in post World War II era nuclear fission power plant engineering literature and on-line scientific publications that I have encountered so far since 1995. Though I suspect that effectiveness in blocking ionizing radiation, the chosen material's atomic nucleus density also plays a part - i.e. elements with higher atomic numbers and atomic weights. There was an episode in Star Trek: Voyager were Captain Janeway entered a star-system where they detected presence of super-heavy non-radioactive / stable trans-uranic elements that put the Voyager's crew in "gold rush" mode since stable super-heavy elements with atomic numbers beyond uranium are very effective in blocking ionizing radiation. Imagine a super-heavy element which an aluminum foil thick specimen of which has the same X-Ray and gamma ray blocking power as that of 12-inches of lead.
I always thought that lead was the best shielding material. I guess I was wrong. I didn't know there were so many different kinds of materials that could protect you for radiation though. I like how you used a Star Trek reference to explain your point.
http://nuclearlead.com/
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