Radioactivity - a word that strikes fear into the hearts of many; a fear driven by the terrifying power of the atomic bomb, and the potentially devastating health effects of the invisible radiation which they do not understand.
Despite the pervasive reporting of the increasing nuclear threat by the popular press, there are few articles that point out the ubiquity of radioactive materials present in your very home, office, or car. Has no one considered the potential disposal problems that these increasingly popular devices present? Is it acceptable for these devices and their materials to find their way to landfill sites, as is currently the case?
A recent example of such a problem was the 'Trimphone' a popular telephone used in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s. This stylish device featured a dial back-lit with a 'betalight' - a phosphor coated tube (similar to a conventional fluorescent bulb) filled with a radioactive gas (in this case tritium). The problem was that despite the telephones having reached the end of their life, a significant amount of radioactivity remained in the lights, although it had faded considerably. In the end considerable resources were spent collecting all the old telephones, dismantling them and sending the tubes for reprocessing.
While radioactive illumination is little used these days, there are other devices which are reliant on radioactivity to function. For example, most domestic smoke detectors use a small amount of americium to provide the ionisation source. Older models used plutonium for the same purpose - the change was due to the considerably shorter half-life of americium allowing the use of smaller quantities of material, and the faster decay leading to a shorter legacy of activity.
Thorium, once used, in the glowing mantles of gas lamps found in many homes, is now relegated to the cathodes in CRTs - a role it continues to fill due to its excellent electron emissivity. It also forms up to 1% of the electrode material in gas discharge lamps (e.g. used as flood lights at sports stadia, headlights in high-end cars, etc.). Thorium, however, has a very low activity thanks to its half-life of several billion years, and like depleted uranium (with a similar half-life), doesn't need to be treated as a radioactive material. Nevertheless, over recent years, particularly due to the use of depleted uranium as a weapon, concern has began to mount over whether it does in fact pose a risk to health.
Are there other hidden sources of radioactivity? What impact might this have on future generations?
I welcome your comments on this matter.
Despite the pervasive reporting of the increasing nuclear threat by the popular press, there are few articles that point out the ubiquity of radioactive materials present in your very home, office, or car. Has no one considered the potential disposal problems that these increasingly popular devices present? Is it acceptable for these devices and their materials to find their way to landfill sites, as is currently the case?
A recent example of such a problem was the 'Trimphone' a popular telephone used in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s. This stylish device featured a dial back-lit with a 'betalight' - a phosphor coated tube (similar to a conventional fluorescent bulb) filled with a radioactive gas (in this case tritium). The problem was that despite the telephones having reached the end of their life, a significant amount of radioactivity remained in the lights, although it had faded considerably. In the end considerable resources were spent collecting all the old telephones, dismantling them and sending the tubes for reprocessing.
While radioactive illumination is little used these days, there are other devices which are reliant on radioactivity to function. For example, most domestic smoke detectors use a small amount of americium to provide the ionisation source. Older models used plutonium for the same purpose - the change was due to the considerably shorter half-life of americium allowing the use of smaller quantities of material, and the faster decay leading to a shorter legacy of activity.
Thorium, once used, in the glowing mantles of gas lamps found in many homes, is now relegated to the cathodes in CRTs - a role it continues to fill due to its excellent electron emissivity. It also forms up to 1% of the electrode material in gas discharge lamps (e.g. used as flood lights at sports stadia, headlights in high-end cars, etc.). Thorium, however, has a very low activity thanks to its half-life of several billion years, and like depleted uranium (with a similar half-life), doesn't need to be treated as a radioactive material. Nevertheless, over recent years, particularly due to the use of depleted uranium as a weapon, concern has began to mount over whether it does in fact pose a risk to health.
Are there other hidden sources of radioactivity? What impact might this have on future generations?
I welcome your comments on this matter.
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