The Demon Core and Other Criticality Accidents
Stuff You Missed in History Class
iHeartPodcasts
4.2 • 23.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2020
⏱️ 37 minutes
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Summary
The Demon Core was a sphere of plutonium-gallium alloy that the U.S. made for use in an atomic bomb during World War II. After the war, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory had two separate, fatal criticality accidents while working with it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And now for today's Roblox Winter Weather Alert, |
| 0:02.7 | I Heartland on Roblox has been walloped by a winter snow storm. |
| 0:06.5 | It is a winter wonderland. |
| 0:08.9 | You can now ice skate at State Farm Park. |
| 0:11.4 | In State Farm neighborhood, you can compete in snowball fights, |
| 0:14.3 | grab a hot cocoa and cookies, and more. |
| 0:16.5 | There's also special events from your favorite artists and podcasters all month, |
| 0:20.3 | along with scavenger hunts, exclusive content, and unique items. |
| 0:23.9 | So enjoy the festive winter weather at I Heartland on Roblox. |
| 0:27.7 | Head to iHeartRadio.com slash I Heartland today. |
| 0:30.7 | Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History class, |
| 0:34.5 | a production of I Heart Radio. |
| 0:36.5 | Hello and welcome to the podcast. |
| 0:44.5 | I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and I'm Holly Frye. |
| 0:47.4 | My friend, Adrian, who was a science educator, asked me years ago, |
| 0:52.2 | at this point, whether we had ever thought about doing an episode on the Demon Core, |
| 0:57.0 | which sounds terrifying. |
| 0:59.0 | And I kept thinking it might make a good October episode, |
| 1:02.0 | because nuclear criticality accidents can be terrifying. |
| 1:07.0 | Like they expose people to possibly lethal doses of radiation, |
| 1:11.8 | and just a fraction of a second, usually completely by surprise, |
| 1:15.4 | and before anybody can react. |
... |
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