[ RadSafe ] RE: 15000 units of Po210
Muckerheide, Jim (CDA)
Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us
Wed Dec 20 11:00:47 CST 2006
So no alpha-emitters: 3-yr Po-208 and 100-year Po-209! :-)
On construction, from ORAU:
http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/consumer%20products/staticeliminator.htm
In fabricating the older static eliminators of the type shown here, polonium-210 was adsorbed on the surface of a silicate ion exchange resin which was then heated so that the silica was converted into a ceramic. This meant that the polonium-210 was bound within the ceramic matrix. The beads, approximately 20 to 60 um in diameter, were then affixed with an epoxy resin to a metal (e.g., aluminum) plate. Since the microspheres were not covered with any type of protective coating, an open metal grill was used to prevent the source from being touched. The soft bristle brush was positioned next to the source in order to remove the dust.
The following description from NUREG-1717 describes the fabrication of the sources for the newer static eliminators: "A technology similar to that used in making 241Am sources for smoke detectors is currently being used to make the 210Po sources. The 210Po sources made of ceramic microspheres are no longer used in the manufacturing of static elimination devices in the United States. The 210Po sources made in the United States have a silver backing plate covered by a thin gold foil and a second composite foil of gold and 210Po. These foils are locked together by a pressure weld metallurgy process. The composite foil of gold and 210Po is then gold plated to provide an encapsulated source that is insoluble and inert in most chemicals. The solid metal source is mechanically fastened within a rigid housing and steps are taken to prevent disassembly of the source housing."
Here's a good picture of the "new technology."
http://www.company7.com/library/staticmaster/AlphaIonization.p.pdf
Regards, Jim Muckerheide
>-----Original Message-----
>From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl
>[mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Jim Hardeman
>Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 11:42 AM
>To: radsafe at radlab.nl
>Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RE: 15000 units of Po210
>
>Bernie --
>
>Would seem to me that the half-life would insure that
>"serious" folks would be buying your product every few years
>... with this, you don't need to "build in" obsolescence ...
>it's already built into the very nature of the product! To
>quote the Guinness guys -- "BRILLIANT!"
>
>Jim
>
>>>> "Bernard L. Cohen" <blc+ at pitt.edu> 12/20/2006 10:59 >>>
> Isn't the short half life (138 days) a real pain in a
>non-industrial
>application like stereos?
>
>welch at jlab.org wrote:
>
>>I haven't seen the ones for stereos, but they do make
>hand-held brushes
>>used in photography for cleaning film, and there are
>industrial-type units
>>used in manufacturing.
>>
>>
>>
>>>Keith,
>>>
>>>Almost makes you feel sorry for those unfortunate murderers
>who've wasted
>>>all that money on bullets and knives when they could have
>just pulled a
>>>few
>>>static eliminator brushes off convenient stereos and gone on
>a killing
>>>spree. I found 1960 and 1980 models of "eliminators" on the
>internet --
>>>are
>>>they still available, or gone with the turntable?
>>>
>>>Ed Hiserodt
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
>>>Behalf
>>>Of Keith Welch
>>>Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:10 AM
>>>To: radsafe at radlab.nl
>>>Subject: [ RadSafe ] RE: 15000 units of Po210
>>>
>>>Ten million dollars? Sheeesh. Looks like United Nuclear is
>part of the
>>>problem. That info on their website is just bogus. You can
>buy 500 uCi
>>>(I seem to remember a consensus that a few millicuries is
>lethal) static
>>>eliminator sources for 20 bucks (online, with a credit card and no
>>>license). And that news report is even more flaky. What a bunch of
>>>hogwash. Sounds like some rag-mag trying to fan the flame of a
>>>conspiracy theory. Fact is anybody with a credit card can
>buy enough Po
>>>to kill someone with, and could likely produce the poison by simple
>>>mechanical means (it wouldn't take a chemist or physicist).
>Yes, they'd
>>>get pretty contaminated doing it, and they'd waste a lot of
>the Po, and
>>>it might not be in the most efficient form to be absorbed,
>but hey, it's
>>>cheap, just buy ten times more than you need. Basic
>precautions would
>>>keep them from killing themselves in the process. My guess is
>>>somewhere, someone's got a really crapped-up basement - but
>not for too
>>>long.
>>>
>>>Keith Welch
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 09:23:45 -0500
>>>>From: Cindy Bloom <radbloom at comcast.net>
>>>>Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Po-210: What is a unit?
>>>>To: <radsafe at radlab.nl>
>>>>Message-ID: <5.2.0.9.2.20061219092228.03561380 at mail.comcast.net>
>>>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
>>>>
>>>>The United Nuclear's website supports Jim's conjecture.
>>>>
>>>>http://www.unitednuclear.com/isotopes.htm
>>>>
>>>>Cindy
>>>>
>>>>At 09:01 AM 12/19/2006 -0500, Jim Hardeman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>Ivor --
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Just guessing, but I would think that "unit" in this
>context means the
>>>>>>amount of material present in one of the sources that
>United Nuclear
>>>>>>offers for sale for $69 ... sort of like counting how many smoke
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>detectors
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>you would need to make an RDD. If I remember correctly, the United
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>Nuclear
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>sources are distributed in the US as exempt items ... meaning that
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>each
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>one (from memory) would contain ~0.1 microcurie or less of Po-210.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Jim Hardeman
>>>>>>Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>Ivor Surveyor <isurveyor at vianet.net.au> 12/18/2006 18:29 >>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>The following report is from the
>>>>>>AUSTRALIAN. Can somebody please explain what
>>>>>>is meant by a "unit of radioactivity," as quoted in the article.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Russian spy's fatal dose of poison cost $13m
>>>>>>Correspondents in London
>>>>>>19dec06
>>>>>>
>>>>>>BRITISH police believe the radioactive substance
>>>>>>used to kill former Russian spy Alexander
>>>>>>Litvinenko cost more than $US10 million ($13 million).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>According to The Times, preliminary results from
>>>>>>the post-mortem examination on Litvinenko's body
>>>>>>have shown he was given more than 10 times the
>>>>>>lethal dose of polonium-210, large quantities of
>>>>>>which were found in his urine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>"Only a state-sponsored organisation could obtain
>>>>>>such a large amount of polonium-210 without
>>>>>>raising suspicion on the international market,"
>>>>>>said Alexander Goldfarb, a friend of Litvinenko.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>United Nuclear Scientific Supplies, based in New
>>>>>>Mexico - one of the few companies allowed to sell
>>>>>>polonium-210 over the internet - said it would
>>>>>>take at least 15,000 units of the isotope to kill someone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>With each unit costing $US69, it would have cost
>>>>>>more than $US10 million to deliver Litvinenko's fatal dose.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>"You can't buy this much off the internet or
>>>>>>steal it from a laboratory without raising an
>>>>>>alarm, so the only two plausible explanations for
>>>>>>the source are that it was obtained from a
>>>>>>nuclear reactor or very well-connected
>>>>>>black-market smugglers," an unidentified British security
>source said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>British detectives working on the case in Moscow
>>>>>>were due to return to Britain this week.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Security sources said Russian officials refused
>>>>>>to ask questions of Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri
>>>>>>Kovtun - both of whom met Litvinenko on the day
>>>>>>he fell ill - that British detectives wanted
>>>>>>answered. They had not complained publicly
>>>>>>because of the importance of the case to
>>>>>>diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>High-ranking Kremlin officials have mocked
>>>>>>Litvinenko's boasts, after he defected to
>>>>>>Britain, about his role in their security services.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Minister of Defence Sergei Ivanov claimed that
>>>>>>Litvinenko, far from being a top KGB spy as he
>>>>>>liked to claim, was merely a prison guard.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Mr Ivanov said Litvinenko had never had access to
>>>>>>secret or important information and was "of such
>>>>>>poor character" he was dismissed from the Russian
>>>>>>security agency when it was being run by Vladimir Putin.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>"He was never a spy and never knew anything of
>>>>>>any real value to give to any (foreign
>>>>>>intelligence) service," Mr Ivanov said. "He was
>>>>>>just a Russian who meant nothing to us."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Referring to the letter in which Litvinenko
>>>>>>accused the Kremlin of poisoning him, Mr Ivanov
>>>>>>said:"We didn't care what he said and what he wrote on
>his deathbed."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Kremlin officials again described the accusations
>>>>>>of Russian involvement made by Litvinenko and his friends as
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>ludicrous.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Valentin Velichko, a colonel who is president of
>>>>>>Honour and Dignity, a powerful group of KGB
>>>>>>veterans, dismissed Litvinenko as "a nonentity".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>He said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya
>>>>>>Gazeta newspaper that Litvinenko was never a
>>>>>>target for Russian intelligence because he was
>>>>>>not important enough to bother with.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>--
>ÐÏࡱá
>
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