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Re: Radiation Goggles- It's True! (sorta)
They see the light emitted by the zinc sulphide, not the actual alpha
radiation.
See: http://www.bicradiation.com/blue.htm
"Landes, Claude W" wrote:
> Actually two problems as I see it... Sensitivity and Focusing.
>
> My views and mine alone!
>
> Claude W Landes, RRPT
> Senior Radiological Controls Technician, Lead
> ERC Radiological Counting Facility
> Eberline Services Hanford Inc.
> cwlandes@bhi-erc.com
> Phone: (509)373-6005/ 373-2547
> Fax: (509)373-1224
>
> "Take life in big bites, moderation is for monks." Robert Heinlein (Time
> enough for Love)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chuck Cooper [mailto:cooperc@teleport.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 10:06 PM
> To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
> Subject: Radiation Goggles- It's True! (sorta)
>
> This is such a simple concept, I don't see why you can't just get a good
> $300 night vision scope and some zinc sulphide and try it. Calibration
> would be a trick though.
>
> ====================
> Source: http://www.globaltechnoscan.com/21stMar-27thMar01/goggles.htm
>
> Radiation goggles
>
> Wear these special goggles and see radioactivity with your own eyes. One
> of the problems with radioactive contamination is that it is
> invisible. Smoke blackens, oil stains, chemicals discolour, but you
> can't actually see dangerous ionising radiation with the naked eye.
>
> But now a British company is working on a system that shows up
> radioactivity as a glow in the dark. With a pair of modified military
> night-vision goggles, scientists monitoring radioactive contamination at
> the scene of a possible spill would be able to spot smears of
> alpha-emitting radionuclides such as plutonium.
>
> The radiation goggles designed by British Instrument Consultants (BIC)
> in Warrington, Cheshire, are based on an old technique. Early last
> century, nuclear pioneer Ernest Rutherford saw the flashes of light
> given off by zinc sulphide when it is struck by alpha particles. The
> effect, known as scintillation, is commonly used in radiation monitors
> which convert the flashes of light into electronic signals.
>
> BIC wanted to find a way of boosting the weak flashes given off by low
> levels of radioactivity until they're visible to the human eye. To do
> this, the company took a pair of night-vision goggles and tuned them to
> highlight light wavelengths emitted by scintillating zinc sulphide.
>
> The result, according to BIC spokesman Mike Scott, is that you can see
> alpha contamination as low as 30 becquerels per square centimetre
> as an intense glow on the goggles' green monochrome screen. "The main
> advantage is being able to measure contamination of unusually
> shaped objects," he says. "With standard probes it's very difficult to
> get into nooks and crannies."
>
> The goggles, which have been tested at the University of Liverpool,
> would also enable staff monitoring an area to keep well away from
> contamination. One disadvantage, though, is that you have to spray zinc
> sulphide onto the area under investigation. And you can only use
> the goggles out of doors at night because daylight swamps the sensitive
> electronics, though filters might make it possible to see the glow in
> ambient light, Scott says.
>
> Nevertheless, Scott says some of the major players in the nuclear
> industry, including the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and
> British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) have already expressed an interest. The
> goggles could be useful in identifying hot spots of plutonium
> contamination at the nuclear plants being decommissioned at Dounreay in
> Caithness and Sellafield in Cumbria, he argues.
>
> Scott, a physicist who has specialised in radiation measurement, accepts
> some people would prefer a device that could detect lower levels
> of contamination and other forms of radioactivity. But he is confident
> that he can improve his design to highlight contamination down to
> 10 becquerels per square centimetre. He is also planning to investigate
> other materials such as plastics that are susceptible to scintillation
> from beta, neutron and gamma radiation.
>
> Peter Burgess from Britain's National Radiological Protection Board says
> that while BIC's idea is a clever notion, he is worried that
> spraying potentially contaminated areas with zinc sulphide might send
> radioactive particles into the air and worsen the clean-up problem.
> But the UKAEA believes the technology "sounds very interesting" and
> could be useful. "But we need to reserve judgement until we have
> seen it demonstrated," a spokesman says. BNFL takes a similar tack,
> arguing that the goggles are the "spark of an idea" that needs more
> work and testing before they would be willing to use them.
>
> Author: Rob Edwards, Edinburgh
>
> New Scientist issue 17th March 2001
>
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