[ RadSafe ] Uranium Source

[Mercado, Don]

Greetings all,

I was in the Petrified Forest in Calistoga, CA last weekend and went to
their tourist shop. They sell all kinds of minerals, pieces of petrified
trees, geodes, fossils, etc. A display box on the counter right near the
check out clerk had about 50 one cubic inch clear plastic boxes labeled
"Uranium" with a half-dime sized chunk of yellow and grey flaky rock in
it. For $3.00 I had to have one. I got it to my lab yesterday (no, I
didn't transport it in accordance with DOT regulations!! :^)  ) and it
is running about 30,000 cpm on a thin window GM at the surface of the
box, more with the box open. I'm going to run it through my spectrum
analyzer just to see what's there. I'd like to go back there with an ion
chamber and see what those high school aged clerks are being exposed to.

I also went to the Old Faithful Geyser they have in Calistoga. Didn't
take any radon samples....

Donald P. Mercado
Radiation Safety Officer
Explosives Safety Officer
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
O/9K-2S, B/157
1111 Lockheed Martin Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Ph. (408) 742-0759
Fx. (408) 756-0504
Don.Mercado at lmco.com
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of 
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but 
rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally 
worn out, and loudly proclaiming 
-- WOW!!! -- What a Ride!!!"