Home Radiation Kits....

[m.broderick1@genie.geis.com]

Back in the cold war days, a group at Oak Ridge, under Cresson Kearny did
quite a bit of research on survival after a nuclear attack. Among other
things, they published a document describing how to make a dosimeter from
stuff found around a typical home. I don't have that handy anymore, but I
believe it used aluminum foil for the leaves. These were to be sealed inside
a can, and crumbled gypsum from wallboard was to be placed inside the can as
a dessicant!
 
You took a reading by looking down  on the leaves and seeing how far they'd
moved compared to a ruled scale provided with the document. How far on the
scale the foils had collapsed was cross-referenced with a table which gave
the dose. They prepared a document suitable for newspaper to publish as a
supplement during a crisis, whic described building the device, included
actual size templates for the foil, and instructions on using it.
"Calibration" was only a dream for this, of course! I guess in such an
emergency, I'd rather have such a gadget than _NO_ dosimeter, but only if I
wasn't the one who'd put it together.....
 
Mike Broderick