[ RadSafe ] Thorium in gas lamps

[parthasarathy k s]

Thorium containing gas mantles are widely used in India. A few years ago, the total consumption used to be about 200 tons. It has come down drastically to about 125 tons or so now. A kilogramme of thorium is used to make 720 gas mantles.
 
Gas mantles are popular in villages where people gather for wedding ceremonies and festivals. In a typical marriage procession there may be a dozen  lamps generally carried by porters on their shoulders!
 
The life style of Indians is changing rapidly.Gas mantles are now being replaced by fluorescent bulbs powered by portable diesel generators. The dip in the consumption of thorium is primarily due to the change of practice.
 
I was surprised to realize that you purchased so many mantles!. Do they serve as check sources? Do you sell them?
 
Good quality gas mantles are available at 6-7 US cents in India. You can buy 15- 16 pieces for a US $! As many wait with baited breath for the conclusion of the US India Nuclear deal,  what about starting an Indo US trade agreement for gas mantles for checking US radiation detectors! I hope that this  may not cause any proliferation concern! 
 
Interesting thought
 
Regards
K.S.Parthasarathy

----- Original Message ----
From: "Conklin, Al (DOH)" <Al.Conklin at DOH.WA.GOV>
To: John Andrews <andrewsjp at chartertn.net>; Mark Sonter <sontermj at tpg.com.au>
Cc: radsafe at radlab.nl
Sent: Thursday, 22 June, 2006 8:03:34 PM
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Thorium in gas lamps


I found a hardware store in Pasco, Washington (Griggs for those of you
in the Tri-Cities) where most of the mantles were radioactive. I bought
25 packages (two mantles each) for $1.18 per package (manufactured by
Cabin Creek- I bought all those they had) and 5 made by Stansport for
$1.49 a package. (I could have bought 100 or more if I had the money
with me at the time.) We're working with hospitals in the Pacific
Northwest in decontamination drills, and as you know, these things work
great for that. There were a couple of other manufacturers with hot
mantles also. I don't remember which ones, but theirs were a little more
expensive, so I stuck with the two I mentioned above.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of John Andrews
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 5:57 PM
To: Mark Sonter
Cc: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Thorium in gas lamps

Mark Sonter wrote:

> Does anyone out there in Radsafeland know roughly how much thorium is 
> in a Coleman or similar lamp mantle?
>
> Mark Sonter
>
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Not much any more.  Most mantles currently being produced do not contain
thorium.  I keep one for a source.  I won't say where it is.

John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee
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