To my surprise and pleasure there are US-made survey meters and not absurdly priced.
A friend suggested a hospital nuclear medicine lab, but I suspect the strange looks would be more than I want. A reader pointed out that Amazon sells uranium ore (is there anything they don't sell?). "Radioactive minerals are for educational and scientific use only." (How many of these would you have to buy to extract a useful amount of U235? Probably cheaper to buy on the glowing black market.) It comes with a CPM as of ship date. Even if the CPM declines over time, U238 is a 4.5 billion year half-life; I doubt the CPM will decline significantly in my lifetime (maybe my species' lifetime).
U235 has a 710,000 year half-life but that is only a fraction of 1% of the uranium in that sample. (It decays by alpha particles or spontaneous fission, so I do not expect a measurable decline in my lifetime. (As long as the people in charge do not push the button, that probably still not enough decay in the life of our species to matter.)
Yes, only alpha particles, no X-rays, gamma rays, or beta particles, but for testing basic functionality this is enough.
Read the reviews; very entertaining:
Great for making things glow...I can see my organs now if I pull the sheets over my headBtw, Amazon provided a star rating for "flavor" for this product. I didn't evaluate that.
KI4U calibrates radiation meters; they did mine several years ago, but it is good to verify occasionally.
You can buy one on Amazon for a few bucks:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ref=pd_day0fbt_1/143-8249167-2066202?pd_rd_w=2KOBt&pf_rd_p=bcb8482a-3db5-4b0b-9f15-b86e24acdb00&pf_rd_r=0X22XTZT6QDF61QJ80J8&pd_rd_r=f712b707-639c-4f58-af64-cd23055ec904&pd_rd_wg=tZozK&pd_rd_i=B000796XXM&psc=1
These have a CPM listed at the time of shipping, so you have a standard to work with. Higher CPM samples are available as well.
I send mine to these guys, they are legit:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.radmeters4u.com/calibrate.htm
Helpful or not, Amazon has uranium for testing. Don't know where else to get.
ReplyDeleteJust ordered. A friend suggested a hospital nuclear medicine lab, but I suspect the strange looks would be more than I want. The uranium from Amazon is fine. Even if the CPM declines over time, U238 is a 4.5 billion year half-life; I doubt the CPM will decline significantly in my lifetime (maybe my species' lifetime).
DeleteDo you know anyone in industry/manufacturing? Radiological emitters and detectors are frequently used as level reading mechanisms on storage tanks. Such a source could serve as a casual function test without violating rules or safety. Access is controlled to such places though; you'd have to get someone who already works there to run the test for you.
ReplyDelete