Amusing "nuclear toys"

[Gary Schroeder <schroede@mail.sep.bnl.gov>]

Don't know how many of you out there turn into Holiday Model Railroaders
once a year, but I spied this amusing bit of text in a Lionel train catalog:

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New and cool! The Atomic Energy Commission returns to the Lionel Lines,
this time with a fleet of three sequentially numbered clear-body tank cars
designed to haul what the AEC ominously refers to as "reactor fluid!" Our
secret - special, completely safe and nontoxic rheoscopic fluid in sealed
tubes. Shake these cool cars up (or pull them around your empire) and watch
the fluid swirl and change colors. It's mesmerizing - and very fun! Three
terrific colors: hauls biohazard blue, delivers plutonium purple, and
carries Geiger green. Period AEC decoration. Totally safe and nontoxic.
Each car sold separately. 
-------------------------

So what exactly is "reactor fluid", anyway?  See the following web site if
you want to see what "plutonium purple" actually looks like:

http://www.lionelllc.com/catalogs/c-pg1819.shtml

No product endorsement expressed or implied!
=======================
Gary L. Schroeder
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Environmental Protection Office
gs1@bnl.gov