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Re: Rad Sources for Workshops



Are you sure this is a Am-241 smoke detector?  Some of the early smoke detectors

used Ra-226.



The opinions expressed are strictly mine.

It's not about dose, it's about trust.

Curies forever.



Bill Lipton

liptonw@dteenergy.com



Dimiter Popoff wrote:



> I have seen one smoke-detector 241Am source which is somewhow built

> at the bottom of something like a brass well (so the source would

> be directed).

>  The whole thing had 10-12 mm outside diameter, and ended with a screw

> at the rear (if the opening for the source is the front) side.

> I suppose one could swallow it - but then I imagine anyone wanting

> to swallow such a piece of metal would have much bigger, non-radiation

> related problems...

>  However, the source seemed not so weak; it was doing a 40 or 50 kCps

> gamma through the Be window of a 15% HPGe detector... Being non-medical,

> I can only stay astonished that such a source would bring no

> health issues if ingested. Are the others talking of a weaker

> source or are we really designed to withstand that much? Or even

> much more than that?

>

> Dimiter

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

> Dimiter Popoff

> Transgalactic Instruments    http://transgalactic.freeyellow.com

>

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