[ RadSafe ] LAT Article: Florida pawnshop'sradioactivesurprise("Yellow cake")

[John Jacobus]

Jim,
Beyond cells, is there any proof to your statement
regarding K-40?  A citation or two would be nice.  

--- "Muckerheide, Jim  (CDA)"
<Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us> wrote:

> Amen John,
> 
> Not only would you die without potassium, it is
> fairly well homeostatically controlled.  
> 
> We even know that with just K-39, removing the K-40,
> and shielding from external radiation, cells and
> organisms cease to function.
> 
> Regards, Jim
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl on behalf of John R
> Johnson
> Sent: Mon 3/12/2007 10:30 PM
> To: Jeff Terry; radsafe
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] LAT Article: Florida
> pawnshop'sradioactivesurprise("Yellow cake")
>  
> Jerry et al
> 
> K-40 is one of the isotopes always seen in whole
> body counting, and I used 
> it to insure may counter was working properly. If
> the peack at 1.46 MeV was 
> not present, the counter was assumed to be not
> working correctly.
> 
> John
> ***************
> John R Johnson
> CEO, IDIAS, Inc.
> Vancouver, B. C.
> Canada
> (604) 222-9840
> idias at interchange.ubc.ca
> 
> 
> .
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jeff Terry" <terryj at iit.edu>
> To: "radsafe" <radsafe at radlab.nl>
> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 6:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] LAT Article: Florida
> pawnshop's 
> radioactivesurprise("Yellow cake")
> 
> 
> > Reminds me of an experiment that I did in a class
> that I taught a few 
> > years ago.
> >
> > We ashed 100 pounds (45 kg) of bananas to isolate
> the potassium. Did  the 
> > store clerk every give us a dirty look when we
> were checking out.  I think 
> > that she thought we were a bit disjointed.
> >
> > Anyway, we isolated 200 g of potassium from the 45
> kg of bananas so  about 
> > 24 mg was K-40.
> >
> > We counted it with a low energy Ge detector, low
> efficiency but could 
> > observe a peak.
> >
> > The students really liked that experiment. You
> need to be careful  with 
> > those "hot" bananas.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mar 12, 2007, at 11:44 AM, Conklin, Al (DOH)
> wrote:
> >
> >> It's a good thing they don't know what I've got
> buried around my  office;
> >> "deadly" red fiesta ware, several "nuclear"
> autonite crystals, about
> >> three dozen "dangerous" lantern mantles, a "life
> threatening" radium
> >> dial clock and a compass, a can of "horrifying"
> salt substitute.  When I
> >> go out to do training, and take along my props,
> I'm a walking nuclear
> >> nightmare. I might even take a "hot" banana for
> my lunch.
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
> >> Behalf Of John Jacobus
> >> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 9:15 AM
> >> To: radsafe; know_nukes at yahoogroups.com
> >> Subject: [ RadSafe ] LAT Article: Florida
> pawnshop's radioactive
> >> surprise("Yellow cake")
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-
> uranium12mar12,1
> >> ,2145801.story?coll=la-news-a_section
> >>
> >> Florida pawnshop's radioactive surprise
> >>
> >> A small amount of yellowcake uranium is
> discovered among rocks from an
> >> estate sale.
> >>
> >> By Stephen Hudak
> >> Orlando Sentinel
> >>
> >> March 12, 2007
> >>
> >> BELLEVIEW, FLA. - Every blue moon or so,
> collectibles dealer and
> >> pawnshop owner Frank Cafaro stumbles upon a
> buried gem among an  estate's
> >> junk and tchotchkes.
> >>
> >> His latest find was so alarming he called
> firefighters.
> >>
> >> "We were in the warehouse and we pulled out this
> box of rocks from an
> >> estate sale," Cafaro said.
> >> "Everything was individually labeled. Amethyst.
> Topaz.
> >> Uranium. The guy I'm working with says, 'What's
> that last one?  Uranium?
> >> I think that's illegal.' "
> >>
> >> Within an hour, Gold Mine Pawn was swarming last
> week with about three
> >> dozen emergency workers, including
> Geiger-counter-waving members of a
> >> hazardous materials team and the Marion County
> Sheriff's Office  domestic
> >> security task force.
> >>
> >> They focused on a container the size of a soup
> can.
> >> Labeled with radioactive markings, the container
> protected a vial that
> >> held about an ounce of yellowcake uranium, a
> processed mineral  that, in
> >> larger quantities, could be used to make fuel for
> nuclear reactors or
> >> enriched for weapons.
> >>
> >> In 2003, President Bush justified the decision to
> invade Iraq, in  part,
> >> on a now-discredited intelligence report that
> claimed former Iraqi
> >> President Saddam Hussein had tried to buy tons of
> yellowcake,  presumably
> >> to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.
> >>
> >> "It was kind of scary when I heard how terrible
> this stuff was,"  Cafaro
> >> said.
> >>
> >> The mineral, which Cafaro traced to an estate
> sale in Miami about 10
> >> years ago, was turned over to the Florida
> Department of Health for
> >> disposal.
> >>
> >> Yellowcake, also known as uranium oxide, is far
> from being a
> >> weapons-grade material, said Talat Rahman,
> chairman of the physics
> >> department at the University of Central Florida.
> She said it did not
> >> pose a serious threat in small quantities.
> >>
> >> "Yellowcake by itself is not dangerous," Rahman
> said.
> >> "It has to be processed to be converted into
> something dangerous."
> >>
> >> Sharon Gogerty, a spokeswoman for the Florida
> Department of Law
> >> Enforcement, said small amounts of yellowcake
> were reported to the
> >> agency "on a regular basis" and were not
> considered especially
> >> dangerous.
> >>
> >>
> >> +++++++++++++++++++
> >> "We must face the fact that the United States is
> neither omnipotent or
> >> omniscient - that we are only 6 percent of the
> world's population;  that
> >> we cannot impose our will upon the other 94
> percent of mankind;  that we
> 
=== message truncated ===


+++++++++++++++++++
“We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient — that we are only 6 percent of the world’s population; that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind; that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity; and therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.”
-- John F. Kennedy 

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com


 
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