RE: RE: Fiestaware

[bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Bob Flood)]

I used a piece of Fiestaware as a training aid when I taught radiation
safety at a nuclear utility. It was most useful to demonstrate how the plate
would cause a frisker to alarm at a distance a 2 feet when the frisker was
set on the lowest scale, generate 40,000 cpm on the highest scale (contact),
but wouldn't show any response at all when surveyed like the high-speed
"health physics hail mary" survey technique used by so many.

Also, had a colleague here at SLAC whose house in Santa Cruz was built in
the 30's and still had the original orange (!) tile kitchen counter tops.
The glazing was like the Fiestaware, and it showed a shallow dose equivalent
on contact (TLD face down) of 1,100 mrem in about 110 days. This house had
yellow floor tile in one of the bathrooms; it, too, was radioactive, but at
a lower level than the kitchen tile.

Bob Flood
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone.
(415) 926-3793
bflood@slac.stanford.edu