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Radioactive Deuce?

charlietango

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As a side note, there has to be some MV's that were exposed to radiation due to experiments unless there is some kind of protocol for this kind of situation, that doesn't involve DRMO.

new trucks for sale GL Contaminated Vehicles from the Chernobyl, :) get em cheap.
you think any of those things survived?
 

m16ty

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The radiation detectors are very sensitive at scrap yards. I've set them off with iron pipe that had been burried and picked up a little raydon from the earth and for some reason high heat furnaces can become radioactive. You will make the meter "jump" a little every time you go across the scales but most of the time it's not enough for them to reject the load.

Every time I've set it off they will take a hand held meter and try and pinpoint the source. If the source can be removed you can remove it and sell the rest of the load. If you can't remove it they will ask you to leave.

They told me that the reason they are so strict about this is because if the mill where they send the scrap detects enough radiation the scrap yard has to pay to have the whole rail car brought back to the scrap yard ( and pay hazardous waste transportation charges).
 

spitfire_pilot

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My other military hobby is collecting WWII aircraft instruments. I can't buy anymore from Europe because everyone gets redflaged coming into the country for radiation. Lucky for me I finished my Mk I Spitfire panel befor everything got so intense. By the way, I have since this pic was taken, replaced both fuel guages with the correct types and replaced the volt guage with the proper white faced one. All of these guages are 1939-43 and radioactive. I don't glow in the dark (yet). The nose up down guage is the only repro.
 

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Ferroequinologist

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M16ty,
Your right on about radioactive material in scrap. I used to work at a steel mill. The biggest reason its a no no- get something radioactive in the furnace, and your going to have fall out- there is so much dust and heat and air coming out of that thing and sucked up oto a huge vacuum building, then let go into the atmospher. So not only would that contaminate all the workers, building, blowers, filters and then it would be released to rain down on the locals. Those places let enough bad ju-ju out to rain down, they don't need to let anymore!
 

greenjeepster

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I think you will get more radiation from one trip to the grocery store if you stand in line next to a guy with prostate cancer than you will from driving a deuce with radioactive gauges for 50 years.
 

Stan Leschert

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Now take it to the Capital, and send us the results. Oops, that measuring device only reads in radiation, not stupidity. If it could read that, the needle would be pegged in our nation's seat of interference. Ottawa! The place where we send the dumbest politicians, just to keep them out of our hair!
 

XM 2742

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Did anyone notice the number of those trucks at the Chernobyl site that we being salvaged to some degree. Guess radiation is relative to which parts ya need.
 

stumps

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Did anyone notice the number of those trucks at the Chernobyl site that we being salvaged to some degree. Guess radiation is relative to which parts ya need.
A quick wash with soapy water and a brush, and all of the fallout will wash right off. Most of it has probably already washed off and gone into the soil due to the rain.

-Chuck
 

militarysteel

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haha, well the government here in the states is not any more intelligent .



Now take it to the Capital, and send us the results. Oops, that measuring device only reads in radiation, not stupidity. If it could read that, the needle would be pegged in our nation's seat of interference. Ottawa! The place where we send the dumbest politicians, just to keep them out of our hair!
 

randini

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I would doubt a geiger counter would pick up any Radioactivity, Radium has very little Gamma radiation. You would need a Scintilation detector to pick-up particular Radiation. Scintilation detectors are what places like dumps that need very sensitive measurements. Either way it has an extremly long half-life, with very little exposure to anyone. As long as you dont Lick it!:-D
 

x-ray

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I would doubt a geiger counter would pick up any Radioactivity, Radium has very little Gamma radiation. You would need a Scintilation detector to pick-up particular Radiation. Scintilation detectors are what places like dumps that need very sensitive measurements. Either way it has an extremly long half-life, with very little exposure to anyone. As long as you dont Lick it!:-D
Actually - Radium emits alpha beta and gamma, It is very easily detected with a most hand-held Geiger counters. In addition, its Progeny and parent isotopes in simultaneous decay found with radium metal used in phosphorescent gauges and the like will also be very apparent.

Large Scintillation Detectors shileded from background radiation and then oriented to a load of steel can detect very trace levels of gamma emissions and are preferred for scrap yards and nuclear gauging devices usually have shutters and shielding that hide the radioactivity to tiney levels (probably below the geiger sensitivity as the geiger is picking up too much background ) until it can be smelted and its too late - you have contaminated the lot of metal - Happens all the time - check out the radioactive tissue boxes in google that were sold ad Bed Bath & Beyond a few weeks back.

I build radiation detectors for a living (its another hobby too) that sometimes gets out of hand Scintillation detectors - they are handy but they are limited in some ways -you need different scintillators for certain energies and isotopes. Geigers tend to over respond at lower enrgies, but are useful for detection.

Truck Gauges I have measured vary from about 0.2-2.5 mR/hour. Measured with an ion chamber and a calibrated energy compensated Geiger gives about the same result side x side.

The exposure isn't that much, but you have to consider that you can get alpha creep and radon progeny where the radium and progeny settle outside the face of the gauge and you can get trace levels on your hand. Radium tends to follow the metabolic pathway of calcium so its retained in human bone/body fairly long time before it can be excreted.

Radium decays to radon which is an inert gas, it doesn't stick to anything, so the sold gauge paint decays slightly to a gas (radon) that further decays into radioactive polonium and bismuth (solids ) as radon only has a 3.8 day half life, this accumulates on the outside of the gauge.
 

x-ray

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I is good to know that the government is looking for radiation at the borders.
Yes & no

Makes you wonder how the bed, bath & beyond radioactive tissue boxes got into the country and what else slips through the boarder - there is more checking within boarders then at boarders - actually. The boxes were found when a California Highway Patrolman picked up a high radiation signal from a cargo truck - pulled it over and found out the boxes were tissue holders (stainless steel) that had been contaminated by the smelter in India - Apparently a Cobalt-60 cancer therapy source was recycled into the metal recycling plant - Probably sucks to work in that scrap yard.

I was part of the Western NY Heath Physics group that went o measure the boxes at a local store and they were 10mR/hour.



I am OK with the government checking some things, but there is way too much "screening & X-raying going on within our borders now for minimial reason. Wait till that State trooper pulls over your duece because its "radioactive" and he impounds it as some sort of radioactive hazard - you won't be so happy they check on that day.
 
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