RE: Natural Thorium

["Heinmiller, Bruce" <heinmillerb@aecl.ca>]

The question's ambiguous in two regards.  Do they want to include the
activity of non-Th nuclides?  In either case, how old is the thorium since
separation, if any?  Also, you may wish to check an earlier thread
concerning thorium lantern mantles and dating them by nuclear counting.

Bruce Heinmiller CHP
heinmillerb@aecl.ca

> ----------
> From: 	Elizabeth
> Algutifan[SMTP:elizabeth_algutifan@wssrap-host.wssrap.com]
> Reply To: 	radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> Sent: 	Wednesday, May 26, 1999 9:45 AM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	Natural Thorium 
> 
> This is a question of semantics: What does the term "natural thorium"
> really
> mean? A geologist colleague of mine came up to me this morning and asked
> me to
> tell him the specific activity of natural thorium. As I got to thinking
> about
> it, it occurred to me that if natural thorium is only referring to the
> thorium
> isotopes in the decay chain, I can calculate it based on assuming secular
> equilibrium between Th-232 and Th-228 (and say they both contribute half
> to the
> total nat Th activity). Is that an oversimplification? 
> 
> Elizabeth Algutifan
> Elizabeth_Algutifan@wssrap-host.wssrap.com
> 
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