IT'S ELEMENTAL!
CURIUM WILLIAM G. SCHULZ, C&EN WASHINGTON
C
URIUM, ELEMENT 96, WAS Dis-
covered and patented by Nobel Laureate Glenn T. Seaborg. It is one of only two elements on the periodic table that have ever been patented, the other being americium, which Seaborg also discovered. There are not many practical applications for curium. Seaborg did, however, use it to honor his scientific forebears, Pierre and Marie Curie. Like Seaborg, they had devoted their lives to science. Their investigations of radioactivity, as well as discovery of the elements polonium and radium, set the stage for his groundbreaking work to find other transuranium elements, most notably, perhaps, plutonium. I met Seaborg about two and a halfyears before his death on Feb. 25,1999.1 had arranged to interview him for a profile to be published in C&EN's 75th anniversary issue. I must confess, I proposed writing the profile before I knew much about Seaborg and his work on the Manhattan Project. I gathered some reading materials in preparation for my meeting with him, but, on the whole, I was underprepared. The day I arrived in Berkeley, Calif,
CURIUM AT A GLANCE Name: Named for scientists Marie and Pierre Curie. Atomic mass: [247). History: Discovered in 1944 by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso using a cyclotron. Chemical identification of curium took place during WWII at Argonne National Laboratory. Occurrence: Does not occur naturally. It can be made in nuclear reactors from plutonium. Appearance: Silvery white, solid metal. Most curium compounds are faintly yellow. Behavior: Very radioactive. Curium can build up in bones, where its radiation disrupts red-cell formation. Uses: Because of its long half-life, curium-242 can be safely used as energy for pacemakers, remote navigational buoys, and space missions.
HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
T O P S E C R E T The government classified much of the early research on transuranium elements. Shown here is a paper on curium declassified in 1948.
for the not been asked a hundred interview, times? W h a t portion of his it seemed long and distinguished cato me unreer should be included, seasonably and which left out? Should hot. My little I ask about his private life? hotel room His political viewpoints? was stuffy and The more I read from not air-condimy research materials, tioned. There the more I began to was a window for feel disheartened. How ventilation, but could one person possibly have acmostly it let in complished so much in a lifetime? the late-afternoon ^ ~^>^^ sun, aggravating my When I met Seaborg the next day, my discomfort. mood brightened. As many other people have noted, he was an all-around nice guy— I didn't know anybody in Berkeley, and approachable, friendly witty It was a pleasI was wiped out by the long flight from ure and a privilege to spend a few hours in Washington, D.C. It was too early for dinhis company But I was still vexed by what ner, so I lit a cigarette and decided to reto write. view my notes and other materials in preparation for the interview the next day I kept all of my materials from the interview, including a brown accordion foldI soon felt overwhelmed by the task er that Seaborg had stuffed full with variahead. In reading, I learned, for example, ous articles and interviews about his life that Seaborg's concept of an actinide seand work. He put a label on the folder with ries, which includes most of the transuramy name on it and the date, Oct. nium elements, constituted the 24,1997 The materials were a most fundamental revision of the tremendous help, and they have periodic table since Mendeleyev a permanent place in my files. What's more, Seaborg's work Of all that has been written in discovering elements gave rise about Seaborg, there was one asto nuclear energy, nuclear medipect of his character that especine, and, of course, nuclear warcially registered with me that day: fare. He was a principal in the deHis incredible humility I could velopment of the atomic bomb, CELEBRATING C&EN'S not get a handle on all that this and he later promoted peaceful 80TH great man had achieved in life— uses of the atom—especially for ANNIVERSARY I still cannot. But it didn't seem medicine and energy that any of Seaborg's considerFor nearly seven decades, Seaable accomplishments, fame, and stature borg maintained an active scientific career, had ever eclipsed his basic nature. He was mostly from his office and laboratory suite forever down to earth and open to learning. at Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoEvery account of him that I have heard ry and nearby University of California, from other people confirms my impression. Berkeley He was an adviser to several U.S. He didn't exhibit a speck of pretense. His presidents, the first chairman of the US. focus was always on the next horizon. Atomic Energy Commission, and a tireless I saw Seaborg once or twice after that advocate for science education. At the time meeting. His energy never seemed to flag. of my interview with him, an internationI realize today that I left my interview with al nomenclature committee had just named him carrying away far more valuable inelement 106 seaborgium in his honor. formation than I had at first realized. My mind reeled. How could I possibly focus an interview with a man who had William G. Schulz is C&EN's news editorand achieved so much? Trying to develop a is responsible/or the News of the Week department. new spin or angle, I could see, would quickHe also covers government andpolicy issues for ly become an exercise in frustration. C&EN What could I ask Seaborg that he had C & E N / S E P T E M B E R 8, 2003
171
