Re: Why a "pig"?

["David W. Lee" <lee_david_w@lanl.gov>]

	Perhaps a historian like Paul Frame will provide the real answer from his
vast memory.  I have no reference at hand toward which to refer you, thus
my speculation is worth less than even 2 cents.  I recall being told,
however, (without any references cited) that in the early days, high
activity radioactive sources where stored in thick steel/iron containers
for shielding reasons, hence the derivation from "pig iron."  REGARDS  David

  


At 04:56 PM 01-10-97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>I was recently asked by a lab tech why we call lead storage containers
"pigs"? 
>I honestly didn't know. Does anyone know, as Paul Harvey says "the rest of
the
>story?"
>
>Thanks in advance for the insight.
>
>Al Castellane
>Oregon Health Sciences University
>Portland, Or
>castella@ohsu.edu
>
>
David W. Lee
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Radiation Protection Services Group (ESH-12)
PO Box 1663, MS K483
Los Alamos, NM  87545
PH:   (505) 667-8085
FAX:  (505) 667-9726
lee_david_w@lanl.gov