IEER SDA V7N2 / E&S #8

It Pays to Increase Your Jargon Power
With Dr. Egghead

Dr. Egghead is IEER's leading authority on jargon. His column is a regular feature of Science for Democratic Action. This column will not only cure your jargon blues, but produce a positive exhilaration.


  1. TRU waste:

    a) Trash that has accumulated beyond the planet Uranus
    b) Movie title rejected by the producers of "True Grit"
    c) Best-selling product of the multinational corporation, "Trash R Us"
    d) Acronym for transuranic waste, a category of radioactive waste containing more than 100 nanocuries per gram of alpha-emitting transuranic radionuclides with half-lives of more than 20 years.

  2. vadose zone:

    a) Where Darth Vader goes to get spaced out
    b) A highly contaminated area inside the headquarters of the Very Active Department Of Security & Energy
    c) The area between the endzone and the zero yard line where refs can't tell if a touchdown was made or not
    d) The layer of soil above the water table, the contamination of which can threaten groundwater resources and any surface water resources affected by groundwater outcrops.

  3. radiolytic products:

    a) A new division of Sony corporation that produces electronic radios
    b) A brand name for a line of radios with lots of lights and buttons
    c) Premiums offered by National Public Radio during fundraising week
    d) Products of chemical decomposition resulting from the action of radiation on chemicals. (Hydrogen gas resulting from the decomposition of water is an example.)

  4. BEMR:

    a).A device to project a beam of light into the Department of Energy to see if anyone is home
    b) Someone who is always smiling broadly
    c) Coveted homemaker's award for individuals making the best use of Sunbeam countertop appliances
    d) Acronym for Baseline Environmental Management Report. The DOE published two editions of this report, which represented its first attempts to make a comprehensive assessment of clean-up requirements and costs. The production and updating of this useful document was ended in 1996.

  5. saltcake:

    a) A hearty staple food of the Vikings

  6. b) Official dessert of the Indian independence movement
  7. c) A sweet French pastry whose spelling got confused during transliteration
  8. d) Chemicals that crystallize out of concentrated liquid radioactive waste to form piles of salt. Saltcake is one of the waste forms that has accumulated in high-level waste tanks at Hanford and Savannah River Site.


Don't scroll down here
unless you are ready to see the answers!


Answers:
1. d
2. d
3. d
4. d
5. d


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Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Comments to Outreach Coordinator: ieer@ieer.org
Takoma Park, Maryland, USA

January, 1999