{
  "vercy": "1.0-draft",
  "publication": {
    "status": "research-draft",
    "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed",
    "publishableCanonical": false,
    "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T13:56:15Z",
    "providers": [
      "Claude"
    ],
    "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify",
    "pass": 2,
    "wave": 4,
    "engine": "claude",
    "enrichment": {
      "pass": 3,
      "engine": "claude",
      "producedAt": "2026-10-06T10:00:00Z",
      "ingestedAt": "2026-10-06T07:36:07+00:00",
      "fields": [
        "agent_conduct",
        "ethics",
        "owners"
      ]
    },
    "gate": {
      "passed": true,
      "version": "1.0",
      "at": "2026-10-06T19:51:55+00:00",
      "evidence": [
        "completeness 1.00",
        "sense: Wikidata description",
        "2 live sources",
        "review by codex: pass"
      ]
    }
  },
  "metaModel": {
    "id": "THING-Q1872",
    "registryId": "vr.tr.americium",
    "name": "americium",
    "version": "0.2.0-wave.4",
    "entryKind": "thing",
    "family": "Thing Registry",
    "domain": [
      "PHY.MAT"
    ],
    "status": "research-draft"
  },
  "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1872/",
  "model": {
    "registry_id": "vr.tr.americium",
    "name": "americium",
    "purpose": "Let an agent explain americium and its properties, relay discovery, isotopes and uses from chemistry references at public reference level, describe smoke detector use and safety, and distinguish americium from neighbouring actinides and from sensitive nuclear topics the model does not cover.",
    "definition": "A synthetic radioactive element with atomic number 95, an actinide first produced in 1944 by Seaborg and colleagues, whose isotope americium-241 is used in ionisation smoke detectors and as a neutron and gamma source, with other isotopes from americium-231 to americium-249 including the metastable americium-242m1 studied in nuclear physics; americium is produced in nuclear reactors from plutonium and is handled under radiation safety rules, and the model gives no sensitive nuclear detail.",
    "what_it_is_for": "Not applicable; a chemical element.",
    "affordances": [
      "explain properties",
      "relay discovery and isotopes",
      "describe uses and safety",
      "distinguish related elements"
    ],
    "distinguishing_features": [
      "Synthetic actinide",
      "Smoke detector use",
      "Alpha emitter",
      "Reactor by-product"
    ],
    "appearance": "A silvery metal, rarely seen; smoke detector sources are tiny sealed discs.",
    "visual_identification": [
      "Element 95, actinide",
      "Americium-241 in smoke detectors; isotopes 231 to 249, americium-242m1",
      "Plutonium is element 94; curium is element 96"
    ],
    "physical_properties": [
      {
        "quantity": "atomic number",
        "typical_range": "95",
        "unit": "count",
        "note": ""
      },
      {
        "quantity": "discovered",
        "typical_range": "1944",
        "unit": "year",
        "note": "Seaborg, James, Morgan, Ghiorso"
      },
      {
        "quantity": "americium-241 half-life",
        "typical_range": "432.2",
        "unit": "years",
        "note": ""
      },
      {
        "quantity": "smoke detector source",
        "typical_range": "about 0.3",
        "unit": "micrograms",
        "note": "typical"
      }
    ],
    "families_and_kinds": [
      "americium-241 in smoke detectors and sources",
      "americium-243 in research",
      "metastable americium-242m1",
      "short-lived isotopes from americium-231 upward",
      "americium in nuclear waste"
    ],
    "related_models": [
      {
        "relation": "is a kind of",
        "target": "actinide",
        "why": "in registry terms"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is a kind of",
        "target": "heavy metal",
        "why": "in registry terms"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is used in",
        "target": "smoke detector",
        "why": "as an ionisation source"
      },
      {
        "relation": "is produced from",
        "target": "plutonium",
        "why": "in reactors"
      }
    ],
    "identifiers": [
      {
        "scheme": "CAS",
        "value_or_pattern": "7440-35-9",
        "note": "americium"
      },
      {
        "scheme": "symbol",
        "value_or_pattern": "Am",
        "note": "element symbol"
      }
    ],
    "standards_and_regulation": [
      "IAEA and national radiation safety regulations",
      "Consumer product rules for smoke detector sources",
      "Nuclear material accounting"
    ],
    "failure_modes_and_hazards": [
      "Agents providing sensitive nuclear detail",
      "Improper disposal of smoke detector sources",
      "Registry aliases naming many isotopes"
    ],
    "in_scope": [],
    "out_of_scope": [],
    "characteristics": [],
    "agent_conduct": {
      "may": [
        "Explain americium's place among the actinides and its common use in smoke detectors.",
        "Advise that old smoke detectors go back to the manufacturer or an approved collection scheme."
      ],
      "must_not": [
        "Assist in extracting, concentrating or collecting americium from detectors or any other source.",
        "Provide details that would help build a radiation source or device capable of harming people.",
        "Advise opening, crushing or burning smoke detectors.",
        "Help move radioactive material outside the licensing and transport rules."
      ],
      "requires_human": [
        "Handling a found or damaged radioactive source, which must be reported to the authorities."
      ]
    },
    "ethics": {
      "considerations": [
        "Radioactive material can harm people who do not know they are exposed.",
        "Misuse of nuclear material threatens public safety."
      ],
      "affected_parties": [
        "People near radioactive sources",
        "Waste workers",
        "The public"
      ]
    },
    "owners": {
      "steward": "The licensed holder of the material; the national nuclear regulator licenses and tracks sources.",
      "master_systems": [
        "National radioactive source registers"
      ]
    }
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "wikidata",
      "title": "Wikidata item Q1872: americium",
      "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1872",
      "url_status": "live",
      "what_it_supports": "identity and sense of the item",
      "checked_by": "wikidata-api"
    },
    {
      "id": "wikipedia-en",
      "title": "Wikipedia: Americium",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium",
      "url_status": "live",
      "what_it_supports": "general description of the item",
      "checked_by": "wikidata-api sitelink"
    }
  ],
  "structure": {
    "bundles": [
      {
        "id": "understand",
        "name": "Understand",
        "description": "What americium is.",
        "rationale": "Science.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "definition",
            "name": "Definition",
            "description": "Definition and properties.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "definition-finding",
                "name": "Definition",
                "description": "Definition.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What is americium, and how does it differ from plutonium and curium?",
                    "kind": "definition"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Is the question about the element, an isotope, smoke detectors, or sensitive nuclear matters the model does not cover?",
                    "kind": "boundary"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "isotopes",
            "name": "Isotopes",
            "description": "Isotopes.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "isotopes-finding",
                "name": "Isotopes",
                "description": "Isotopes.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What are americium-241, americium-243, the metastable americium-242m1 and the short-lived isotopes, at public reference level?",
                    "kind": "definition"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits the specific isotope?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "use",
        "name": "Use",
        "description": "Uses and safety.",
        "rationale": "Regulation.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "detectors",
            "name": "Detectors",
            "description": "Smoke detectors.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "detectors-finding",
                "name": "Detectors",
                "description": "Detectors.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How do ionisation smoke detectors use americium-241, and how are they disposed of safely?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which references are standard?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "safety",
            "name": "Safety",
            "description": "Radiation safety.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "safety-finding",
                "name": "Safety",
                "description": "Safety.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What radiation safety rules apply to americium sources?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Is the presentation at public reference level and non-sensitive?",
                    "kind": "boundary"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "science",
        "name": "Science",
        "description": "Chemistry and physics.",
        "rationale": "Science.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "chemistry",
            "name": "Chemistry",
            "description": "Chemistry.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "chemistry-finding",
                "name": "Chemistry",
                "description": "Chemistry.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What are the chemical properties and compounds of americium?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which sources are cited?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "waste",
            "name": "Waste",
            "description": "Nuclear waste.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "waste-finding",
                "name": "Waste",
                "description": "Waste.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "Why does americium matter in spent fuel and waste management, in general terms?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits radioactive waste?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "id": "context",
        "name": "Context",
        "description": "History and research.",
        "rationale": "Context.",
        "layers": [
          {
            "id": "history",
            "name": "History",
            "description": "History.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "history-finding",
                "name": "History",
                "description": "History.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "How was americium discovered and named?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits Glenn T. Seaborg?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "id": "research",
            "name": "Research",
            "description": "Research.",
            "findings": [
              {
                "id": "research-finding",
                "name": "Research",
                "description": "Research.",
                "questions": [
                  {
                    "text": "What research uses americium, including as a power source for space missions, as reported?",
                    "kind": "provenance"
                  },
                  {
                    "text": "Which entry fits radioisotope thermoelectric generator?",
                    "kind": "action"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "openQuestions": [
    "Should americium-241 be a separate primary entry?",
    "How should chemistry references be linked?",
    "The registry entry has merged aliases naming isotopes; should they be split off?"
  ],
  "statistics": {
    "bundles": 4,
    "layers": 8,
    "findings": 8,
    "questions": 16
  }
}