Nuclear reaction Common light particles are often abbreviated in this shorthand, typically p for proton, n for neutron, d for deuteron, α representing an alpha particle or helium-4, β for beta particle or electron, γ for gamma photon, etc. The reaction above would be written as Li-6(d,α)α. In 1919, Ernest Rutherford was able to accomplish transmutation of nitrogen into oxygen at the University of Manchester, using alpha particles directed at nitrogen N + α → O + p. This was the first observation of an induced nuclear reaction, that is, a reaction in which particles from one decay are used to transform
British nuclear tests at Maralinga nuclear warheads containing plutonium-239. In total, "Vixen B" scattered 22.2 kg of plutonium around the Maralinga test site known as Taranaki, in particles of widely divergent size. Plutonium is not particularly dangerous externally - it emits alpha particles which are stopped by of air, or the dead layer of skin cells on the body, and is not a very intensive source of radiation, due to its long half-life of 24,000 years. It is most dangerous when it enters the body, in the worst case by breathing, and therefore tiny particles, often the result of such explosion testing, are the worst