When he switched on the stirrer, the liquid formed a vortex and the plutonium layer was released in a pulse that lasted only 200 microseconds. He had an excruciating death after being exposed to a lethal dose of neutrons and gamma rays from a mixing tank. Text: An industrial accident at the Los Alamos, N.M., plutonium-processing plant took the life of experienced chemical operator Cecil Kelley in 1958. After a latent phase, victims experience hair loss and bone marrow failure and, if they do not recover, die within weeks to months. Polonium's effect, known as "acute radiation syndrome," first causes nausea, vomiting, anorexia and diarrhea. But taken internally, the poison can be fatal within one month. As a result, external contamination does not cause radiation sickness, according to a 2007 report in the Journal of Radiologic Protection. It is only a hazard if it is ingested, because of the low range of alpha particles in biological tissues. Polonium-210 (P-210) is a high-energy alpha emitter with a radioactive half-life of 138 days. In 1927, American geneticist Hermann Joseph Muller published research showing genetic effects of radiation, and in 1946 he was awarded the Nobel prize. In 1896, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla intentionally subjected his fingers to X-rays and published findings that burns developed. Radiation was not discovered until the late 19th century and its dangers were not immediately known. Swiss scientists announced they had found 18 times the normal levels of polonium in Yasser Arafat's rib, pelvis and in soil stained with his decaying organs, concluding that he was poisoned. 7, 2013— - intro: This week, former Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat's death was in the news in a case of suspected radiation poisoning.
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