AW: Missing Exit Signs

["Franz Schoenhofer" <franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT>]

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]Im Auftrag von Jaro

Gesendet: Donnerstag, 11. März 2004 12:42

An: Radsafe

Betreff: RE: Missing Exit Signs





Franz wrote:

I would say, that trying to use tritium exit signs as an RDD, is ridiculous.

If they were of the type I know - filled with gaseous HT - sure no cleanup

would be necessary and would not cost a single cent, because within a few

minutes all of this gas would have been dispersed and diluted to ambient

levels. There would be no mess <SNIP>



I wonder about that -- presumably an RDD involves some sort of explosion.

Wouldn't that cause at least some part of the HT to burn and form HTO ?

While most of that would also disperse as vapour, some might also cause a

mess.... any guesses how much ?

By the way, a colleague pointed out that the 55 Ci in the exit signs would

by now have decayed to 25 Ci, due to 14 years of decay (12.3 yr half-life).

------------------------------------

 Jaro,



Great! Somebody at RADSAFE who knows the difference between HTO, TH, T2,

T20.....



I do not know how much of the gas filling of the EXIT signs would be

hydrogene or I rather expect that it would be diluted by an inert gas, I

would rather assume that legislation would require that there should not be

any possibility of ignition.



Even if a device would be exploded and H2 would be oxidised to H20 I cannot

see any radiation protection consequences: We know that explosions result

mostly in a vertical distribution, because of the heat generated. So any

contaminants from these exit signs would rise to several hundred meters

(sorry, several thousand feet), and then be distributed by winds.



Taking into consideration my doubts, that all of these EXIT signs could be

exploded simultaneously I again draw the conclusion that this kind of

"threat" really can be disregarded.



Franz







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