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

Thu Mar 15 19:26:45 CDT 2007

John

It has nothing to do with K-40. We all need potassium to live, as I pointed 
out recently on Radsafe.

John
***************
John R Johnson, PhD
CEO, IDIAS, Inc.
Vancouver, B. C.
Canada
(604) 222-9840
idias at interchange.ubc.ca

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Jacobus" <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>
To: "Muckerheide, Jim (CDA)" <Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us>; "John R Johnson" 
<idias at interchange.ubc.ca>; "Jeff Terry" <terryj at iit.edu>; "radsafe" 
<radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 2:02 PM
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] LAT Article: Florida 
pawnshop'sradioactivesurprise("Yellow cake")

> 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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