“You’re never a pest, Eddie,” Mrs. Ross assured him. “I was going to call your mother in a little while about that newspaper write-up.”
“Oh, you read it?” Eddie said.
“How could anyone miss it?” Teena said. “Right on the front page.”
“I suppose your father is quite concerned over it,” Teena’s mother said.
“Oh, yes,” Eddie affirmed. “He was the one who ordered the isotope.”
“What’s an isotope?” Teena asked.
“I’m not sure I know, either,” Mrs. Ross said. “Maybe we could understand more of what it’s all about if you could explain what a radioisotope is, Eddie.”
“Well,” Eddie said slowly, “it’s not easy to explain, but I’ll try. You know how rare uranium is. There’s not nearly enough of it to fill all the needs for radioactive materials. Besides, pure uranium is so powerful and expensive and dangerous to handle that it’s not a very good idea to try using it in its true form. So they build an atomic reactor like the one at Drake Ridge.”
“We’ve driven by it,” Mrs. Ross said. “My, it’s a big place.”
“I’ll say,” Eddie agreed. “Of course, only one building holds the reactor itself. It’s the biggest building near the center.”