[ RadSafe ] Dirty Bomb Material Report?
Robert D Gallagher rdgallagher at nssihouston.comTue Apr 4 11:54:07 CDT 2006
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How many Curies of Tritium were contained in exit signs in the 9/11 structures that fell? I feel certain at the time the release of Tritium was the least of everybodies worries. Bob Gallagher NSSI Houston -----Original Message----- From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On Behalf Of Flanigan, Floyd Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 11:32 AM To: Mercado, Don; Robert Atkinson; John Jacobus; radsafe at radlab.nl Subject: RE: AW: [ RadSafe ] Dirty Bomb Material Report? I am assuming this is gaseous H3 which would be little threat upon postulated release except to someone right on top of them at the moment of breech? Once in the atmosphere, would the H3 not dissipate rapidly and be diluted to levels of non-concern in a very short period of time? Actually, Hydrogen-3 is usually produced as follows: Lithium-6 + neutron --> Tritium + Helium-4 Only the neutron (which is used up) and Tritium itself are radioactive or dangerous. In addition, Tritium decays as follows: Tritium --> Helium-3 + Electron + Electron anti-neutrino Again, all of these are harmless, Helium-3 is not radioactive. Anyone else see this issue this way? Floyd W. Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P. -----Original Message----- From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Mercado, Don Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 10:09 AM To: Robert Atkinson; John Jacobus; radsafe at radlab.nl Subject: RE: AW: [ RadSafe ] Dirty Bomb Material Report? I had a phone call last week from a guy who wanted to know about selling the H-3 exit signs on eBay. He had about 20 of them and wanted to know the relative hazard. He found my name through Radsafe. Anyway, that's about 200 Ci of H-3 going for sale to John Q. Public if he didn't heed my advice about returning them to the mfgr. -----Original Message----- From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Robert Atkinson Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 7:50 AM To: John Jacobus; radsafe at radlab.nl Subject: RE: AW: [ RadSafe ] Dirty Bomb Material Report? A few check sources is nothing. If I was looking for material for an RDD I'd visit the local construction site. A fairly common moisture density gauge contains 8mCi of Cs137 (50 times the amount suggested for the GAO case, plus a 40mCi Am241/Be neutron source. They lose about two or three a month according to the NRC reports. One (serial No.15636) was stolen in Virginia in1997 and turned up on eBay about a week ago! It was returned to its original licensee. The GAO report just shows that the system works, a minimal amount of material was detected and the identity of the persons involved was established. Robert Atkinson. _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
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