Re: High natural background radiation areas

["dkosloff1" <dkosloff1@email.msn.com>]

The "galleries" link was informative.  The discussion under "PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS" included the following list of locations:  "Notable
Occurrences are wide spread and diverse. They include beach and river sand
deposits from Travancore, India; Australia; Brazil; Sri Lanka; Malaysia;
Nigeria; Florida and North Carolina, USA. Pegmatite sources include
Encampment, Wyoming; Petaca District, New Mexico; Amelia Court House,
Virginia; Climax Mines, Colorado; Maine; Alexander and Madison Counties,
North Carolina, USA as well as Callipampa, Bolivia; Madagascar; Norway;
Austia; Switzerland; Joaquim Felicio, Minas Gerais, Brazil and Finland"

However, there was also some confusing information presented on its
radioactivity:

"Monazite is radioactive, sometimes highly radioactive, and specimens are
often metamict."

"Remember, this is a radioactive mineral and should be stored away from
other minerals that are subject to damage from radioactivity, and of course
human exposure should be limited !"

"PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Other Characteristics: Generally highly radioactive which can produce
metamictation!"

The phrase "highly radioactive" seems to be popular in the press.  I do not
recall ever seeing the same phrase used by professionals who study
radioactivity.  Classifying thorium metal as being highly radioactive
strikes me as incorrect.  When I hear about a "highly radioactive metal", I
immediately think of Cobalt-60 or Cesium-137.  If something can be "highly
radioactive" then that implies that other things may be "mildly
radioactive,"  "weakly radioactive" or just "radioactive."   If layman asks
me about the radioactivity of new fuel or nuclear weapons I tell them that
they are weakly or mildly radioactive.   I recall in the recent movie
"Broken Arrow," an intact atomic (or fusion) warhead is discovered by a
group of soldiers who were searching for it.  A short time later they are
shown lying dead around the warhead, killed by the radiation.  The clear
message being that the radiation was so strong that it dropped them in their
tracks.  Has an attempt ever been made to establish a "radioactivity index"
for materials that could be used to help the public understand the
variations in the activity of various elements?

Don Kosloff dkosloff1@msn.com
2910 Main St.
Perry OH 44081


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