[ RadSafe ] RE: Who is using Radiation Producing Machines?: KI[sic] KCl ice melt

[stewart farber]

About 15 years ago, I sent 3 samples of dried commercial grade ice melt KCl 
through an environmental lab for quantitative gamma spec analysis as blind 
QA samples to test results against lab precision criteria [ +/-15% which was 
easily realized on analyzing a sample with approximately a calculated 
450,000 picoCi of K-40 per kg of KCl salt ].  --- [Sorry for all the non-SI 
units in this post -pleeeease don't flame me all my international list 
members].

Interesting that these KCl ice melt sample analyses also would have met the 
calculated K-40 activity of 450 nanoCi/kg of salt within accuracy criteria 
of 10% assuming the calculated activity was indeed the actual K-40 content 
indicating the KCl salt being sold for ice melt was essentially pure KCl. So 
a kg of KCl ice melt salt contains 450 nCi and Floyd's 50 pound sack will 
contain about 10,200 nanoCi of K-40 per 50 pound [22.7kg]  bag of salt.

As far as the dose rate from a huge pile of KCl ice melt, the dose rate will 
max out, even at the center of an infinite sphere of KCl salt due to 
shielding of the K-40 photons by the KCl between the detector/receptor and 
the rest of the mass of material. I had one of my staff Monte Carlo 
shielding specialists do a quick back of the envelope calculation 15 years 
ago and the dose to a person at the center of an infinite sphere of KCl  was 
less than 1 mrem/hour --about 0.5 mr/hr if I recall. Interesting, but not 
anoutrageous dose rate.

If does make an interesting point however.  When I purchased a 5 gallon 
container of KCl at my local BJ's Wholesale Club box store [each container 
weighed at least 40 pounds], the store had them piled up on a palette [about 
5 wide x 8 deep x 4 high -- no less than 6,400 pounds of KCl on the palette] 
near  each cash register line. I took a great photo of mothers with their 
little children sitting in shopping carts backed  up in line between two 
palettes of KCl ice melt waiting to check out.

What I found interesting at the time was the thought that mines are being 
excavated to extract KCl which is being packaged and sold for various uses 
like ice-melt [resulting in incremental doses far above background]. At the 
same time various anti-nuclear groups protest the burying of nuclear wastes 
in  underground tunnels, a practice that has no potential in reality to 
result in any member of the public ever receiving an incremental dose in 
excess of that due to use of the salts [with half lifes like K-40 of 1.3 
billion years] extracted from the earth in forming the tunnels initially. 
What's wrong with this picture?? Bizarre.

Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
Consulting Scientist
Farber Technical Services
1285 Wood Ave.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
[203] 441-8433 [office]
email: radproject at sbcglobal.net

================================

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Flanigan, Floyd" <Floyd.Flanigan at nmcco.com>
To: <Pete_Bailey at fpl.com>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 11:16 AM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] RE: Who is using Radiation Producing Machines?: KI


Well ... I ran a little test yesterday. I took a 50 pound bag of Ice
Melt brand ice melting compound which contains Potassium Chloride,
through a Gamma 60 portal monitor just for fun. It lit up every detector
like a Christmas tree. Now ... if 50 pounds of the stuff won't pass a
Gamma 60 set @ 45nCi ... what kind of background dose rate could be
expected in the vicinity of a 20,000 ton pile of the stuff?

Floyd W. Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P.
Sr. H.P. Analyst
Prairie Island

-----Original Message-----
From: Pete_Bailey at fpl.com [mailto:Pete_Bailey at fpl.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:11 AM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Cc: Flanigan, Floyd
Subject: re: Who is using Radiation Producing Machines?: KI


>  Machines aside, is anyone handling the stock-piles of
> Potassium Chloride for ice remediation by State DOTs?


ummm, why,,,do ya need more ?

Florida has lots of KI, not too much ice on the road  :-)

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