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Since the 1950s actinides have been used to benefit industry, science, health, and national security. The largest industrial application, electricity generation from uranium and thorium fuels, is growing worldwide. Thus, more actinides are being mined, produced, used and processed than ever before. The future of nuclear energy hinges on how these increasing amounts of actinides are contained in each stage of the fuel cycle, including disposition. In addition, uranium and plutonium were built up during the Cold War between the United States and the Former Soviet Union for defense purposes and nuclear energy. These stockpiles have been significantly reduced in the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1950s actinides have been used to benefit industry, science, health, and national security. The largest industrial application, electricity generation from uranium and thorium fuels, is growing worldwide. Thus, more actinides are being mined, produced, used and processed than ever before. The future of nuclear energy hinges on how these increasing amounts of actinides are contained in each stage of the fuel cycle, including disposition. In addition, uranium and plutonium were built up during the Cold War between the United States and the Former Soviet Union for defense purposes and nuclear energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Americium, element 95, was discovered in 1944–45 by Seaborg et al. (1950) at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago as a product of the irradiation of plutonium with neutrons: ]> This reaction is still the best method for the production of pure 241Am. In post-World War II work at the University of Chicago, Cunningham isolated Am(OH)3 and measured the first absorption spectrum of the Am3+ aquo ion (Cunningham, 1948). By the 1950s, the major center for americium chemistry research in the world was at Los Alamos. Since the 1970s, the majority of publications on americium have come from researchers in the former USSR and West Germany. Extensive reviews of americium chemistry can be found in Freeman and Keller (1985), Gmelin (1979), Penneman and Asprey (1955), and Schulz (1976). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Americium, element 95, was discovered in 1944-45 by Seaborg et al. (1950) at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago as a product of the irradiation of plutonium with neutrons: $$ {}^{239}Pu(n,\gamma )^{240} Pu(n,\gamma )^{241} Pu\mathop \to \limits^{ - \beta ^ - } {}^{241}AM $$ This reaction is still the best method for the production of pure 241Am. In post-World War II work at the University of Chicago, Cunningham isolated Am(OH)3 and measured the first absorption spectrum of the Am3+ aquo ion (Cunningham, 1948). By the 1950s, the major center for americium chemistry research in the world was at Los Alamos. Since the 1970s, the majority of publications on americium have come from researchers in the former USSR and West Germany. Extensive reviews of americium chemistry can be found in (1985), (1979), (1955), and (1976). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]