Re: Radionuclide ID Help

["Dale E. Boyce" <dale@radpro.uchicago.edu>]

I am going to guess that the watch dial is radium, but you will
probably want to compare the energies and branches with what
you observe.  There is a rough match, but I don't know the
relative intensities and energy error bar in your data.
My guess is the sand may be thorium or its long-lived daughters.
You might also take a look at Ba-133 if you have reason to
believe that it is not natural activity.  If the sand is
naturally radioactive you may have a mix of Th-232 and the
uranium series.  Can you adjust your gain to look fot the
2614 KeV peak in the Th-232 series?

Email me directly with a FAX number if you need the energy
and branching data.  The spectra are complex so it
is more typing than I would want to post.

Dale Boyce
dale@radpro.uchicago.edu
(312) 702-6299