Famous People
Who is known as the father of the atomic bomb?
J. Robert Oppenheimer
What is the splitting of a nucleus of an atom called?
Fission
What is the name of the first nuclear powered merchant ship?
NS Savannah
Around what percent of the world’s power is generated by nuclear power plants? (+-5%)
9-10%
What is arguably the most famous nuclear reactor meltdown in history occuring in 1986?
Chernobyl
Who was the first woman to win the Nobel prize in physics?
Marie Curie
When a Uranium 235 atom (used in many nuclear reactors and Little Boy) undergoes fission, how many neutrons are released?
3
In what year was electricity first generated by a plant using atomic fission? (+- 3 years)
1951
What small device in everyone’s home uses a small amount of radioactive americium-241 as a source of alpha radiation?
Smoke detector
How many broken arrow, or lost/accidentally destroyed nuclear weapons incidents have there been (according to the Pentagon)? (+-4)
32
Which famous scientist wrote to President Roosevelt warning that Germany might develop atomic bombs and suggested that the US should do the same?
Written by Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, and Eugene Wigner, signed by Albert Einstein (Any 1 of the 4 will be accepted)
What is the unit that measures the risk of health issues from ionizing radiation called?
A sievert
What cereal company was involved in the Manhattan Project?
Kellogg
A chest x-ray exposes you to the same amount of radiation that people are naturally exposed to in about ___ days. (+- 2)
10
Bruce Banner became the Hulk after an accidental explosion of an experimental bomb, causing him to be exposed to high levels of:
Gammas rays
Who was the Army officer in charge of the Manhattan Project?
Lieutenant General Leslie Groves
What element is used to define the second?
Cesium (133 to be specific)
The discovery of radioactivity and the subsequent birth of the field of nuclear physics occurred in what year? (+- 5 years)
1896
For what system/industry are radioisotope power systems (RSPs) most commonly used for?
Spacecraft/space exploration
What movie monster has “atomic breath” as its primary attack?
Godzilla
Who was the discoverer of the neutrino? (Hint: He graduated from Stevens)
Frederick Reines
A _____ pit or a _____ hole is the temporary disabling of a nuclear reactor due to buildup of nuclear poisons in the reactor core.
Iodine or Xenon
Who was the bomber Enola Gay (the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima) named after?
The mother of the pilot, Paul Tibbets
The process of introducing mutations when breeding plants by exposing them to radiation is called
Atomic gardening
How many level 7 (the highest number on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale) accidents have there been?
2