Re: Another Interesting Item found??

[Joel Baumbaugh <baumbaug@nosc.mil>]

Bruce,

	They sound like a variant of the silver-sand fuse used on very high voltage
transmission lines.  I believe that when there is an over-current
condition the conductor (probably the blue metallic case, or there may be a
metallic rod unseen in the center (like the version that I have)) flashes
and melts, heating and fusing the "pure white" sand to form an insulator in
the electrical path.  

	Hope I'm right...

	Joel Baumbaugh
	baumbaug@nosc.mil


At 07:26 PM 6/8/98 -0500, you wrote:
>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?
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>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
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>

Joel T. Baumbaugh, MPH, MHP
baumbaug@nosc.mil
Radiation Safety Officer
SSC San Diego, CA


	NOTE:	The contents of this message have not been reviewed, nor approved by the Federal Government, the U.S. Navy, my bosses or my wife... My wife keeps complaining I never listen to her...or something like that.



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