What Does "No RAD" stenciled on bumber and door mean

[Stan Leschert]

Radium filed gages are not cool anymore, as they set off all of the Homeland Security warning devices.

Don't try to clear customs with a household smoke detector in your camperized M-109!

Any amout of radiation emmiting device gets them all worried about home made "Dirty Bombs", and that is for a dang good reason.

Replying to the guard with "Alluh Ackbar, In Shalla" would not be a good idea either!

 

[mcmullag]

as we wait

As many of us probably wonder....
according to specifications prepared by the
uh-thor-it-ties
.....how many deuce gauges would it take to make
a respectable device to cause LEO's to turn gray with worry?

Northern Command (homeland security) and
NORAD are here at the south end of town at Petersen AFB.
I will go knock on the gate and ask them.

 

[glcaines]

As many of us probably wonder....
according to specifications prepared by the
uh-thor-it-ties
.....how many deuce gauges would it take to make
a respectable device to cause LEO's to turn gray with worry?

Northern Command (homeland security) and
NORAD are here at the south end of town at Petersen AFB.
I will go knock on the gate and ask them.

It would take a lot of gauges to garner enough Ra-226 for nefarious purposes. The gauges in question have Radium-226 paint on them to make them glow in the dark. As long as the gauges aren't tampered with, they are safe. You don't want to be opening them up and getting the material on your hands. It sometimes becomes friable with age and loose powder is inside the bezel. The bigger concern with Ra-226 gauges is that one of the decay products is Radon-222. During WWII and Korea, the gauges in fighter aircraft had Ra-226 and the Rn-222, which is a gas,tended to build up in the small cockpit. This problem is obviously not true for most 'well ventilated' MVs. Rn-222 is responsible for the majority of ionizing radiation exposure to the general public. Most metal recycling facilities and sanitary waste facilities have very sensitive radiation detectors monitoring the incoming materials and if the gauges are thrown away, they can set off the radiation alarms. Disposal of these items is regulated. It is completely legal to possess these gauges with radium dials, as well as watches, compasses, etc., and many people collect these types of items. The regulations (10CFR31.12) can be viewed at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part031/part031-0012.html and I have reproduced the applicable section below.

31.12 General license for certain items and self-luminous products containing radium-226.
(a) A general license is hereby issued to any person to acquire, receive, possess, use, or transfer, in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section, radium-226 contained in the following products manufactured prior to November 30, 2007.
(1) Antiquities originally intended for use by the general public. For the purposes of this paragraph, antiquities mean products originally intended for use by the general public and distributed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as radium emanator jars, revigators, radium water jars, radon generators, refrigerator cards, radium bath salts, and healing pads.
(2) Intact timepieces containing greater than 0.037 megabecquerel (1 microcurie), nonintact timepieces, and timepiece hands and dials no longer installed in timepieces.
(3) Luminous items installed in air, marine, or land vehicles.
(4) All other luminous products, provided that no more than 100 items are used or stored at the same location at any one time.

 

[WOLFMAN1]

Which gauges in a 52 model would have radiation. i got one gauge that dont work and its my temp guage. what would it hook to for the temp on a gasser? no worries though.

 

[jamesfrom180]

glcaines has it rite by the tail. Self luminous articles require special handling and respect. Radiation is not something to just shrug off as the "cancer" scare and over reacting. My job is dealing with many environmental problems. i.e. environmental engineer. As for the stencil this could have been a duty imposed marking. Example, truck used in area of high radiation i.e. large antenna arrays or on facilities that have ionizing radiation sources. NON OPSEC-some ranges have sources for sighting practice listed with the EPA.

I personally know how sensitive some facilities are to radiation because I had a decommissioned fuel tank rejected by a yard. Talk about pucker factor when its your butt responsible for 100 tons of steal loaded on a low-boy rented by the hr. and the disposal facility tells you that it has too much radiation to accept and your client is telling you they don't want it. All because the drive had a chest X-ray. Simple solution "GET OUT OF THE TRUCK" only cost a days worth of work. Moral of the story don't discount the fact that science has now made your life expectancy longer due to a better understanding of what man "throws away". Also don't get all freaked out by it and have patients with the poor guys like me stuck trying to figure out if the paint, markings, metal, what ever it is is going to kill you.

Every thing requires respect! Don't fear it though. If someone is trying to honestly keep you from encountering a dangerous substance you may not know is there maybe cut them a break. How many of us cut or grind without mask...its our responsibility to help people help us too.