Plutonium Spill Saved Lives Scientifically

During World War II, British radiochemist Alfred Gavin Maddock accidentally spilled Canada's entire supply of plutonium, about 10 milligrams, onto a wooden laboratory bench while working on the Manhattan Project in Ottawa. Rather than discard the precious material, he sawed out the contaminated section of the bench, burned the wood to ash, and recovered the plutonium using wet chemistry. He managed to salvage 9.5 milligrams.

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