RE: NY worlds fair Irradiated dime

["Kolb, William (WKOLB)" <WKOLB@arinc.com>]

Tom,



I attended the Fair and I have an irradiated dime (you can also find them

occasionally on eBay). The irradiator was probably the same one used by the

Museum of Atomic Energy. Here's an unabashed quote from "Living With

Radiation: The First Hundred Years":



"From the early 1950s to about 1975, the Museum of Atomic Energy at Oak

Ridge, Tennessee irradiated dimes for its visitors. The visitor's dime went

into a "miniature atomic pile" where it rolled in front of a water shielded

antimony-beryllium neutron source for a few seconds. Silver-109 in the dime

was activated to Silver-110 with a 24-second half-life. The dime dropped

onto a screen above a Geiger-Mueller counter that registered the short-lived

silver isotope. A museum employee placed the dime in a cardboard ring,

capped it with a clear plastic cover and crimped the assembly in a flat

aluminum case. Irradiated dimes on souvenir postcards could also be

purchased at the museum. In addition to Silver-110, trace amounts of

Silver-108 with a 130-year half-life were produced by activation of

Silver-107 in dimes but the levels were too low to be detectable with a

Geiger counter. As the silver content of dimes started to decline in the

mid-1960s, a hotter plutonium-beryllium neutron source had to be

substituted. By that time, it was estimated over a quarter-million dimes had

been irradiated. For a brief period the museum also operated a traveling

atomic energy exhibit that featured a dime irradiator."





bill

Wm Kolb





		-----Original Message-----

		From:	M Nivas [mailto:motnivas@YAHOO.COM]

		Sent:	Monday, December 30, 2002 11:06 AM

		To:	radsafe

		Subject:	NY worlds fair Irradiated dime



		Greetings to all,



		When I attended the New York World's Fair in 1964

		(1963?) I went to the American pavilion. They were

		irradiating Dimes (your own) and placing them in a

		blue disk with electrons orbiting the dime. As a kid

		we went into our closets to see if the dimes glowed.  

		(they did not)



		The purpose was to show that irradiating a dime was

		safe. 



		First, has anyone attended the fair and has a

		souvenir?



		And second, does anyone know what they irradiated the

		dime with?



		Tom Savin



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