Radioactive Gauge Spotter's Guide

[m16ty]

As a side note, most any kind of old furnace that has been used will be radioactive. I don't know what causes this (must have something to do with the heat) but I scrapped some old funaces and they set off the radiation detectors at the scrap yard. The scrap guy told me that most old furnaces are this way. He also said that alot of old pipe that has be buried in the ground will be radioactive.

 

[stumps]

As a side note, most any kind of old furnace that has been used will be radioactive. I don't know what causes this (must have something to do with the heat) but I scrapped some old funaces and they set off the radiation detectors at the scrap yard. The scrap guy told me that most old furnaces are this way. He also said that alot of old pipe that has be buried in the ground will be radioactive.

The radiation comes from vermiculite used as a refractory. It is harmless. You run more risk from the asbestos.

-Chuck

 

[OPCOM]

The issue is that the dust may be inhaled. Furthermore, radium decays into radon,a gas,which then decays to a series of solids.. so the inside of the guage may be covered in a radioactive dust. It virtually never goes away. handy chart:

http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/nuclear/radium/radium_radon_decay.html

 

[OldDominionIron]

In the pics, the radiation being measured in pic 2 is .05 mr/hr, not .5 mr/hr. The dose rate you receive from a radioactive source decreases proportionately to the square of the distance, so say you receive 1 mr/hr at 1 foot from the source, at twice the distance the dose rate decreases by a factor of 4. If you spent an entire year 1 foot away from the gauge you would receive approximately 3 mr, assuming the reading in the pic is at about 1" away from the gauge.

Reducing Exposure

 

[poppop]

After my last nuclear stress test my Doctor gave me a paper to explain to the cops at airports why I set the radiation detecters off. He said it could last 3 months. Then my Wife had one done and got the same paper, is it safe to sleep with her????

 

[hndrsonj]

A certain person from Alabama told me that if you lick the gauge and it tastes like peanut butter it's one of the "hot" ones.

 

[papabear]

When that certain person from Alabama was at the compound last we found him wearing his flight helmet and licking the windows on a little short bus we had in the impound yard
He also asked if he could siphon some bad gas from the impounded vehicles to aid in his research in alternative fuels

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

Here is an easier spotters guide: If it glows in the dark, it is radioactive.

 

[stumps]

Here is an easier spotters guide: If it glows in the dark, it is radioactive.

Unfortunately that doesn't always work. The old radium dialed gauges were so hot that the radium burned up the phosphor material that did the glowing, and they stopped glowing.

-Chuck

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

After my last nuclear stress test my Doctor gave me a paper to explain to the cops at airports why I set the radiation detecters off. He said it could last 3 months. Then my Wife had one done and got the same paper, is it safe to sleep with her????

Lloyd,
To answer your question in a non-authoritative manner....

It's probably safe for YOU to sleep with her, but most probably DEADLY if you catch anyone else trying to.

This has NOTHING to do with radiation, but such hanky-panky can easily results in a terminal dose of "lead poisoning" for the violator.

 

[Boss Doug]

Where doomed where all going to die!

 

[poppop]

Coldwarrior, thanks for the advice. I will sleep well tonight but my 9MM will be closeby, just in case.

 

[MyothersanM1]

So that's what happened. That's why I'm so ugly and stupid. And all this time I thought it was the DU rounds.

 

[papabear]

You mean your 9MM Airsoft toy pistol I know poppop but some may not realize that.
To be clear...no one in GA has any real guns and we don't know anyone who does.

To anyone looking...don't bother with GA cause we have no weapons to give and we have already licked all the radiation off our gauges so just stand clear or you may just end up getting peppered with cute little white plastic pellets

 

[poppop]

You got it PB, that was my pump up air gun I was refering to.

 

[Goose2448]

It depends what kind of Radiation. A-Alpha is not dangerous, can't pass through the skin. B-Beta is somewhat dangerous, cholthing and skin. Gama is the problem. Everything except Lead, dependes on thickness of the Lead. That is what I rember from Gen Sci.-Honors.

 

[papabear]

All I remember from my very extensive military training in the nuclear field is:

Don't look at the flash...pretend you're a mole and get UNDER the ground...then kiss you ass goodbye

Gauges weren't covered in that block of instruction

 

[stumps]

It depends what kind of Radiation. A-Alpha is not dangerous, can't pass through the skin. B-Beta is somewhat dangerous, cholthing and skin. Gama is the problem. Everything except Lead, dependes on thickness of the Lead. That is what I rember from Gen Sci.-Honors.

Mostly true, but somewhat simplistic.

Alpha particles are just energetic helium nuclei. Beta particles are just energetic electrons, and gamma particles are very energetic photons.

If an alpha, or a beta emitter gets inside of your body, all of the particles will be dissipated by your body. It is likely that some will cause important chemical changes that may be dangerous. Alpha and beta emitters when inside of your body in significant amounts are almost certain to cause cancer.

-Chuck

 

[red]

its good info to know but the amount of radiation being emitted off of these guages is so minute that unless your either licking them, or rubbing yourself on them you have nothing to worry about. really your brand new microwave exposes you to alot more, along with other devices that we encounter everyday.

 

[emr]

my wife (born in roswell nm - home of the ufo crash of 1947) will gladly "recycle" any rad-active gauges that y'all might be concerned about. She figures that it will take only about 157,258 gauges to have enough fuel to get the mothership back to her home planet.

....... We're going home

you my friend are funny ... Now this is a REAL Steel Soldier thread...!!!!