The RadCon Primer For Kids
LESSON THREE
Meet Mr. Neutron

Meet Mr. Neutron, first name Thermal (thermal neutrons are an integral part of this nuclear reaction).
He is very very small.
Bugs are small.
Pull out a hair and look at the end of it. "Ouch!". Not too close!
That's pretty small.
Mr. Neutron is even smaller.
Mr. Neutron and his buddies could get lost on the end of that piece of hair.

"I may be small but I can still kick your ass," says Mr. Neutron.

Mr. Neutron lived with Mrs. Proton and a bunch of little electrons.
That's where the term Nuclear Family comes from.
Sometimes lots of neutrons live together in one spot.
I'm not sure what to call that.
And sometimes they get into big heated arguments and decide to split up.
It's kind of like divorce.
Are your parents divorced?

Mr. Neutron got kicked out of the house and went away mad.
What will Thermal do now?
Maybe he will go tell everyone bad things about Mrs. Proton.
Maybe he will go to a bar.
Do you know what a bar is? Ask Mommy, we'll wait.

"We don't serve neutrons here." says Mr. Bartender.

Thermal is really mad now.
Thermal is going to find another nuclear family and try to raise heat and discontent.
We call this fission.
And we call Mr. Thermal a home wrecker.
Soon the situation will be getting critical.
We will use all the heat and discontent to make electrical power.

What are some things we can do with electrical power?
We can light lightbulbs.
We can make toast.
We can chase the cat with the vacuum cleaner.
Better hope mom doesn't see you.
So you see, Mr.Neutron is your friend.

Tomorrow we will talk about some other types of nuclear interactions like pair production and annihilation.

Lesson 2