[ RadSafe ] Frederick Soddy Nobel Laureate - Imminent disposal of Soddy's Box Historic radiation saved by university U-turn

Tue Jun 19 07:59:49 CDT 2012

Historic radiation saved by university U-turn

from The Herald, 19 June 2012
http://www.robedwards.com/2012/06/historic-radiation-saved-by-university-u-t
urn.html

Frederick soddy A historic century-old cache of radioactivity has been saved
from the dump after protests from professors forced a last-minute U-turn by
the University of Glasgow.

University authorities had been planning to send an ancient box of radium
and other radioactive materials collected by the celebrated
Nobel-prize-winning chemist, Frederick Soddy, to be buried in a nuclear
waste dump in England.

But in the face of fierce opposition from scientists over the last few days,
they have relented. They are now considering instead putting the box on
display behind leaded glass at the university's Hunterian museum.

Soddy worked at Glasgow University between 1904 and 1914, and was one of the
early pioneers in understanding radioactivity. He was the first to describe
different forms of the same element as isotopes, and was awarded the Nobel
prize for chemistry in 1921 for his work.

He left behind in Glasgow a plain wooden box containing 11 glass vials of
radioactive samples, regarded by scientists as "unique and priceless". One
vial of radium is thought to have been given him by Marie Curie, who
famously helped discover radioactivity and won two Nobel prizes.

Known as "Soddy's box", it has been carefully looked after by radiation
scientists at the University of Glasgow for the last hundred years. But at
the beginning of last week the university authorities were contemplating
throwing it away.

The news spread fast amongst radiation scientists online, and provoked an
angry chorus of protest. It would have been an act of "scientific
vandalism", according to Professor Murdoch Baxter, formerly a lecturer in
environmental radiochemistry at Glasgow University and a leading
international radiation scientist.

"Scientists and public throughout the world would be horrified to know that
such historic artefacts were being disposed of," he told The Herald. It
would betray a "lack of appreciation of the university's own unique history"
and would be "an insult to its past radiochemical practitioners, placing a
huge question mark over its intellectual integrity."

Baxter was responsible for the "safe storage and preservation" of Soddy's
box in the 1970s and early 1980s. "Yes, it was a bit radioactive, but mildly
so by nuclear industry standards," he said.

David Sanderson, Professor of Environmental Physics at Scottish Universities
Environmental Research Centre in East Kilbride, described the university's
initial plan as "expensive, controversial, and destructive disposal of
important and irreplaceable samples." Samples of early 20th century radium
were "extremely rare", he pointed out.

Baxter and Sanderson were happy that the university has now changed its
mind. "We're very pleased about this," said Sanderson. "There are of course
questions about how to curate material of this nature, but thankfully it is
in safe keeping for the time being."

Another former Glasgow university radiation scientist, Keith McKay, posted a
plea to support the retention of Soddy's box on an online radiation forum.
"Samples which were priceless and unique when produced, will now be
destroyed with no option for retrievable storage," he wrote.

He warmly congratulated the university for saving Soddy's box. "It has seen
sense and decided not to give this precious historical artefact an
ignominious end," he said.

The University of Glasgow confirmed that it had had a change of heart, but
declined to explain why it had considered disposing of the radioactive
samples in the first place. So it's unclear whether it was trying to save
money, or had some other motive.

"We have been considering the future of the radioactive materials left to us
by Frederick Soddy," said a university spokesman. "As part of the process,
our radiation protection service officers investigated the possibility of
safely disposing of the materials but, given their historic importance, the
decision was ultimately made to keep the materials at the university, most
likely as part of the Hunterian collection."

When asked why disposal was considered, a spokesman added: "We don't have
anything to add to our statement. We looked at the future of the collection
and ultimately decided to keep it."

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Keith McKay
Sent: 18 June 2012 22:21
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Frederick Soddy Nobel Laureate - Imminent disposal
of Soddy's Box

Colleagues

I've managed to find a link showing (small) photos of a some of Soddy's
apparatus and his box.

http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/results.php?QUICKSEARCH=1&search_term=%22Fre
derick+Soddy+%281877-1956%29%22

Best Wishes
Keith McKay
Hamilton, Scotland

On 15/06/2012 20:10, Keith McKay wrote:
> I will email The University and ask them if photographs are available 
> not only of the box but its contents, and if they're aren't, could 
> they take some and make them available (surely they have!).
>
> Can I thank RADSAFERs once again for their support.  You have done 
> your bit!  If it is not asking too much, another email to The 
> University thanking them for saving this precious resource and 
> encouraging them to display it safely to the general public, would not 
> go amiss.
>
> Thank you once again and have a pleasant weekend.
>
> Keith McKay
> Hamilton, Scotland
>
> On 15/06/2012 13:07, Thomas Johnston wrote:
>> For those that are following this thread, would it be possible to 
>> obtain a picture of 'Soddy's Box'?
>> This is of great interest and importance to a number of people I am 
>> sure!
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Thomas
>>
>>
>> Thomas Johnston
>>
>> Health Physicist
>>
>> NIST Center for Neutron Research
>>
>> National Institute of Standards and Technology
>>
>> 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1733
>>
>> Gaithersburg, MD 20899
>>
>> 301-975-5815
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 12:55 PM, Dan
>> McCarn<hotgreenchile at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> The Soddy Sources will be preserved for posterity!  Dan ii
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 4:09 AM, David 
>>> Newall<David.Newall at glasgow.ac.uk
>>>> wrote:
>>>> Dear Mr McCarn****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for raising these concerns.****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Rather than dispose of the Soddy sources, we are arranging to have 
>>>> them stored safely in the Radiation Protection Service's store.****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> David Newall****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> *From:* Dan McCarn [mailto:hotgreenchile at gmail.com]
>>>> *Sent:* 13 June 2012 07:01
>>>> *To:* David Newall
>>>> *Subject:* Frederick Soddy Nobel Laureate - Imminent disposal of 
>>>> Soddy's
>>>> Box****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Dear Sir:****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> I beg the university to reconsider the disposal of Soddy's Box. His 
>>>> work has unique historical significance and retaining the samples 
>>>> would
>>> neither
>>>> pose a threat to the health and safety of the faculty&  students of 
>>>> the university nor the public at large.****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> As a former Technical Officer at the IAEA and as a nuclear 
>>>> professional with over 35 years of experience, please consider 
>>>> alternatives to simple
>>>> disposal.****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Yours sincerely,
>>>> ****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> -- ****
>>>>
>>>> Dan ii****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> Dan W McCarn, Geologist****
>>>>
>>>> 108 Sherwood Blvd****
>>>>
>>>> Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425****
>>>>
>>>> +1-505-672-2014 (Home - New Mexico) ****
>>>>
>>>> +1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)****
>>>>
>>>> HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot
>>> com****
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dan ii
>>>
>>> Dan W McCarn, Geologist
>>> 108 Sherwood Blvd
>>> Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
>>> +1-505-672-2014 (Home - New Mexico)
>>> +1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
>>> HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot 
>>> com _______________________________________________
>>> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>>>
>>> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and 
>>> understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
>>> http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>>>
>>> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other 
>>> settings
>>> visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>>
>> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and 
>> understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
>> http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>>
>> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
>> visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu
>

_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the
RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit:
http://health.phys.iit.edu