Another Interesting Item found??

["Busby, Bruce" <bab1303@hub.doh.wa.gov>]

Hi All,

We have another interesting item that I have run across, that I was 
wondering if anyone else had run across or knows something about it, more 
might want to be on the look out for.... It was found due to a rejected 
load of recycled material. 

This items are being called "capacitors", and are out of high voltage 
circuit breakers. Each capacitor is a cylinder, 13 inches high, 2 inches 
in diameter, covered with hard plastic [polyethylene??] that is 
semi-transparent. Inside the plastic are stacked 10 round disks, each is 
7/8 inch tall, ~1 3/4 inch diameter that have a blue case with metallic 
[thin] window (~3/4 inch in diameter)  top and bottom. Looking inside of 
a disk, there is a yellow-green heavy ceramic. The whole capacitor reads 
about 160 uR/hr, in a background of 8 uR/hr. I have [tentatively] 
identified the isotope as Th-232 and associated chain. 

The circuit breaker was manufactured by Gould, Inc in 1977 and was in a 
pressurized [large] iron shell. With what I could see, there are 4 
capacitors to each enclosed circuit breaker. The company has since been 
bought by another company, who disavows any knowledge of radioactive 
materials in the circuit breaker or capacitor. To paraphrase, "it wasn't 
there when it was made" 

My question, besides general interest and need to identify it, is the 
thorium added on purpose or just in the ceramic by accident?  [made in a 
high Th area??? zeolite sands?]  Anyone know where these were made?  
Anyone want one? (kidding)

See you in Minn.!   When is the radsafe get together?


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Bruce A. Busby    -     Radiation Health Physicist
W- bab1303@hub.doh.wa.gov H-babusby@aol.com
Rad Prot. Div. - Dept. of Health - Washington State
7171 Cleanwater Lane, Bldg. 5   Olympia, WA  98504
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