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Re: 38,222CPM
Come on, Syd. I already have a Fiesta Ware plate to check my Geiger
counter. I keep it by my chair to place my coffee cup on. Any way, I
have waited a few decades, almost 5 since I started in this business in
the USAF. I expect I will die, but I am still waiting. I hope to wait
a couple more decades and I will keep you posted along the way.
My point was really that a chunk of radioactive rock, presumable
naturally so, would normally be disposable in the trash for burial in a
landfill. Any contrary regulations to the contrary would generally cause
a hue and cry way beyond their value to safety. This would not be true
for the old radium anti-static source I identified a while back that had
been put into a recycling bin. Now that sucker was hot! It deserved
the regulatory attention that it got.
Just out of curiosity, I would like to see a picture of the rock in
question along with a scale, and I would be interested in knowing more
about the instrument that is counting 38,222 cpm. It might be a
scaler... rather than a ratemeter...
John Andrews
Knoxville, Tennessee
Syd Levine (AnaLog) wrote:
>Why dispose of it at all? Put it in the garage, or anyplace safe, and use
>it as a check source for your Geiger counter. It has collector value if it
>is indeed natural (or I suppose even if it is not). As someone pointed out,
>you can find similar material for sale on eBay most any time you care to
>look.
>
>Wait a few decades to see if you eventually die. If you do, then you will
>know the cause (either the unethical disposal of radwaste at Niagara, or
>that rock on the shelf in the garage). If you live to be 110, we might have
>to conclude it is a relatively weak effect, however. Keep us posted...
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "John Andrews" <andrewsjp@chartertn.net>
>To: <NiagaraNet@AOL.COM>
>Cc: <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
>Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 9:09 PM
>Subject: Re: 38,222 cpm
>
>
>
>
>>NiagaraNet@AOL.COM wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Hey folks:
>>>
>>>Just a quick question; What type of rock would exhibit 38,222CPM?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Sounds like you have a chunk of U or Th ore to me.
>>
>>
>>
>>>Could this be a rock with a vein of ore such as Uranium (any variety)?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Could be... Do you have a picture? What color is it? How big is
>>it? How much does it weigh?
>>
>>
>>
>>>Could this rock be from Western New York State?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Maybe. Why do you think it might be from New York at all?
>>
>>
>>
>>>Would this "rock" be considered radioactively "hot" and would it present
>>>
>>>
>a
>
>
>>>danger say if handled and then went to lunch without washing ones hands?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> This rock appears to be radioactive. It is more so than your
>>normal granite. Is it "hot?" No. It is hard to say without much
>>information on the type of detector used, the size and shape and weight
>>of the rock, and the geometry of the measurement.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>How would I properly dispose of this specimen? Me? I would throw it away
>>>
>>>
>in the trash, then wash my hands. I would not go to the local regulators,
>especially not in Tennessee. They tend to have an expensive method of
>disposal of anything above the normal background radiation levels. They
>once told me that a load of granite gravel would have to be disposed of as
>radioactive waste because it was 5 micro R/hr above the local background
>level.
>
>
>>>Thanks for your opinions/expertise.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Your welcome. and it is free.
>>
>>
>>
>>>LR (now I'm "masking" my identity:*)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>John Andrews
>>Knoxville, Tennessee
>>(Now I have the Tenn DRH agents all upset...)
>>
>>
>>
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