Re: Safety of Am-241 Smoke Detectors -Reply

[jatalbq@ix.netcom.com (Joseph A Tompkins )]

There actually was some destructive testing of Am-241 equipped smoke 
detectors at ORNL in the early 80's.  The question they attempted to 
resolve was what is the source term for any Am-241 release from a smoke 
detector in a burning building.  The work by Cutshall and Larson 
indicated that no Am-241 was released from these sources under 
conditions typical of a burning residential structure.


You wrote: 
>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>     In a effort to educate the public (especially students) about 
radiation science it is useful to point out common, non-threatening 
consumer products like lantern mantles and smoke detectors.
>
>     Can anyone provide references of safety evaluations of these
>products?
>
><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
>NUREG/CR-1775 is entitled "Environmental Assessment of Consumer
>Products Containing Radioactive Material."  It contains a comparison 
of
>the number of deaths (theoretically) from ten years of use of smoke
>detectors to the ten year death toll (actual) from fires (ratio 
between
>15,000 and 51,000), which explains why these items are allowed to be
>distributed as exempt.  It also contains evaluations of other items.
>
>Keith Brown
>kdb1@nrc.gov
>
>(Opinions expressed are my own.)
>
>