Help Identifying some "Nuclear Reactor Momentos"

[FoBoT]

lead is only used to shield gamma/xrays

you need a hydrogenous material to block neutrons and beta/alpha are easily blocked, the acrylic is blocking any of that

so don't sweat it, quit trying to scare monger him slicksnake

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
alpha particles are stopped by paper, that stuff is encased in acrylic, how would an alpha particle get out

The issues stemming from the use of DU bullets largely has to do with the DU becoming particulate matter (as it erodes, is broken up) and inhaled, eaten, drunk. That CD case should be plenty of protection from any Alpha being emitted. If they're tossing gamma about...

My handy, used, untested, (I've got nothing to test it on) Victoreen Geiger counter can tell me that I've installed the batteries correctly and claims that the samples are cold (or colder than it can register) - although it could be broken.

 

[BrownTown]

test the Geiger counter on some bananas, radioactive potassium FTW!

EDIT: this doesn't really work although it DOES work when you have shipping containers full of bananas going through radiation detectors at ports.

 

[SlickSnake]

RADIUM

URANIUM

Not trying to scare him, trying to limit his exposure to whatever it is. He has no way of knowing exactly what it is, or what its radioactive levels are. It could be anything. Why be stupid about some unknown radioactive objects? Even the partial labeling on the item might be wrong. It could be anything from that era. They were still debating the effects of radiation at that time, and many scientists thought it was safe!

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: Retro2001

Originally posted by: ironwing
The one looks like a fuel pellet plus end of fuel assembly. The second one is interesting. I can't make out the whole label. Can you post the words from the label?

As best I can make out, the wording on the DU is:

U
stored
supermatic
Hanford - C+CCC
UAP and Pluov (unsure about the end of Plu...)
Feb. 1949 RSWARNER

--Will

supernate not supermatic.

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
test the Geiger counter on some bananas, radioactive potassium FTW!

I'm fairly certain that this Geiger counter was intended to tell me how close to me the Ruskies had managed to land one of their bombs ("MFGD. FOR THE FCDA BY...."). That and I'm all out of bananas.

--Will

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: ironwing
supernate not supermatic.

Good call, that would fit with

Plutonium was produced in the Hanford reactors when a U-238 atom in a fuel slug absorbed a neutron to form U-239. The U-239 rapidly undergoes beta decay to give Np-239, which rapidly undergoes a second beta decay, giving Pu-239. The irradiated fuel slugs were transported by rail to three huge remotely operated chemical separation plants called "canyons", that were located about 10 miles (16 km) away. A series of chemical processing steps separated the small amount of plutonium that was produced from the remaining uranium and the fission waste products.

<- Wikipedia on Hanford

--Will

 

[IronWing]

Does your geiger counter have a round, cylindrical head or a flat, disc shaped head? If a long cylinder, it won't measure alpha. If a flat "pancake" head it might measure alpha (if it isn't broken).

 

[SlickSnake]

Radmeters4u

They can become inoperable. This company restores and tests them back to factory specs.

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Does your geiger counter have a round, cylindrical head or a flat disc shaped head. If a long cylinder, it won't measure alpha. If a flat "pancake" head it might measure alpha (if it isn't broken).

It's a pancake - but it could be broken. On the bright side, with it all *tightly* under plastic, it can be generating as much alpha as it wants to.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
There are an amazing amount of hot radioactive items out there in the marketplace from this period in time. They made watches, clocks and grandfather clock faces, dice, chess and checkerboards, jewelry, just an amazing amount of items using radioactive paint that glows in the dark. These items are HOT radioactively speaking, and can be found in thrift shops, garage sales, literally all over the place. The only safe way to store these items is in a lead box. And they should almost never be taken out. Now, it is possible what you have are dummy items, with no radioactivity at all. But you can only know this with a gieger counter check.

talking of glow in the dark? That's tritium, and it's far from dangerous.
unless we're thinking of something else. Tritium maintains luminescence, does not need the sun to 'recharge', and thus they also glow in the daytime, although very faintly. and you'd have to eat it to be in danger.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
There are an amazing amount of hot radioactive items out there in the marketplace from this period in time. They made watches, clocks and grandfather clock faces, dice, chess and checkerboards, jewelry, just an amazing amount of items using radioactive paint that glows in the dark. These items are HOT radioactively speaking, and can be found in thrift shops, garage sales, literally all over the place. The only safe way to store these items is in a lead box. And they should almost never be taken out. Now, it is possible what you have are dummy items, with no radioactivity at all. But you can only know this with a gieger counter check.

WEARING one of those watches for a year is about as dangerous as getting a hip X-ray. Should you expose yourself to radiactivity unneccessarily, no...should you panic and stuff it in a lead box, no. You get more radiation from going outside on a regular basis.

Although the fact that you apparently live in a lead box does explain a lot. That stuff'll kill ya, dude.

 

[IronWing]

As Mr. Safety, my advice is to dump the stuff on your local university nuclear physics department. As a guy who has a bunch of carnatite in his shed, I'm still jealous. Did the bag include any vials of UF6 by chance? If so, my level of jealousy would skyrocket to green rage. That stuff is cool.

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
Radmeters4u

They can become inoperable. This company restores and tests them back to factory specs.

Thanks for the link - mine looks just like their pictures, but older (and even more likely broken) Fortunately These Guys are just up the road from me. I'd reckon that they can probably sort out what my life-expectancy is after spending a few hours in the same room with them

That being said, having determined that OSHA may or may not approve of these as paper-weights (and I really do appreciate the concern and am going to find a less broken Geiger counter), I am still quite interested in any insight into (especially) what the items encased in acrylic are.

--Will

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Looks like a tiny Yoda sized lightsabre.

You should get a Gieger counter and pass it over the goods for fun.

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: ironwing
As Mr. Safety, my advice is to dump the stuff on your local university nuclear physics department. As a guy who has a bunch of carnatite in his shed, I'm still jealous. Did the bag include any vials of UF6 by chance? If so, my level of jealousy would skyrocket to green rage. That stuff is cool.

The vials were unlabled, aside from being "Forms of Uranium", but I don't believe any of them resembled what Google claims UF6 looks like.

--Will

 

[BrownTown]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
There are an amazing amount of hot radioactive items out there in the marketplace from this period in time. They made watches, clocks and grandfather clock faces, dice, chess and checkerboards, jewelry, just an amazing amount of items using radioactive paint that glows in the dark. These items are HOT radioactively speaking, and can be found in thrift shops, garage sales, literally all over the place. The only safe way to store these items is in a lead box. And they should almost never be taken out. Now, it is possible what you have are dummy items, with no radioactivity at all. But you can only know this with a gieger counter check.

talking of glow in the dark? That's tritium, and it's far from dangerous.
unless we're thinking of something else. Tritium maintains luminescence, does not need the sun to 'recharge', and thus they also glow in the daytime, although very faintly. and you'd have to eat it to be in danger.

Yes, it is tritium NOW, however the used to use radium which is considerably more toxic.

 

[SlickSnake]

Supposedly the items from this era were radium. However, it was later discovered they were mixing the radium with other toxic chemicals and radioactive nuclear byproducts that you most likely would not like to wear on your wrist for a year, or even an hour.

 

[Throckmorton]

I would buy some damn lead boxes.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I would buy some damn lead boxes.

I still say that chances are the health risk from lead outweighs the health risk from those items.

But I could be wrong.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I would buy some damn lead boxes.

Me too ... lead is really cheap & much better safe then sorry.

 

[BoomerD]

Paging Ned, Paging NuclearNed...
White courtesy telephone, please.

 

[AmphibSailor]

Originally posted by: Retro2001
Might be a warm one - I wonder what the standard for Depletion was in '49 - although this has had another 50 years to mellow out.

The half life of U238 is about 4.5 billion years. I don't think 50 makes much difference....

 

[AmphibSailor]

Originally posted by: Deleted member 4644
Um................. I *could* be wrong, but wouldn't these items be hot for gamma? If *I* were you, I would not keep them outside of a lead box for more than a few minutes a year.

I think U238 radiates mostly alpha particles. Alpha radiation can be stopped by a sheet of paper.

 

[Retro2001]

Originally posted by: AmphibSailor

Originally posted by: Retro2001
Might be a warm one - I wonder what the standard for Depletion was in '49 - although this has had another 50 years to mellow out.

The half life of U238 is about 4.5 billion years. I don't think 50 makes much difference....

It wasn't the U238 that would concern me. It'd be whatever shorter-lived isotopes that had tagged along.