time for a radiation detector?

[jimdana1942]

I saw some on eBay.

 

[jimdana1942]

What I'm trying to get you to understand is you need to fight your fear and anxiety with facts. Not fuel them with paranoia.

If you lived in Japan, I would think owning a Geiger Counter might be a good idea, but in Morgan City... not so much of a "must have".

You realize you are actually 10,000 miles away from the problem right? And yes I know, there have been small (very small) amounts of radiation showing up here.

But the amount of radiation released by this disaster as compared to Chernobyl is about 20%-50%. We didn't all start growing 3rd eyes in our heads after that one.

Chernobyl made me start farting more than usual. At least I think that was the cause.

 

[drumz2129]

A problem with the media is they don't put this in context. Oil field waste can be radioactive. It's called Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, NORM. You get it in the phosphate industry and oil refining. Radon boils at about the same temp as one of the low molecular weight hydrocarbons and radon daughters build up in some refinery equipment. Every scrap metal yard I know of has a radiation detector at their gates so none of this stuff is scrapped. You don't know about it as it's not media worthy. Actually, the mercury from blown manometers is probably a larger concern than NORM from oil fields.

This is the reason I picked up these a few years back:

I bought some property a few years back that had a lot of junk iron scattered. Anything from lawn mowers and boat trailers to drill stem and old fencing. When I hauled the second load to the scrap iron yard they rejected it due to high level of radiation. The load was in a 20' long goose neck with 8' tall sides. I was not about to haul each piece one at a time to find out what was causing the problem. I ended up ordering a civil defense radiation detection kit from ebay for about $40. The hand held gieger counter (measures in mR/Hr) worked great finding the radioactive piece. It ended up being some 1" pipe used in a home made hay bale holder for feeding cows.

The kit also came with a site survey meter like the one that sportsman guide had:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=677281

10 µRems Background radiation
100 µRems Low level radiation
1 mRems Daily human limit RATE
10 mRems Do not stay here
100 mRems Substantial exposure
1 Rem Strong exposure
10 Rems Extreme danger
100 Rems 50% chance of death
500 Rems CDV-715 highest scale

 

[drumz2129]

i don't even know the right name for it but before i search google for hours, anyone know where i can order a good one? its getting worse, they talking total meltdown. as if we don't have enough cancer causing crap already. we never should have made any of those damn nuclear plants.

Hurry and get one.
http://www.nukalert.com/

 

[Leadfoot]

Chernobyl made me start farting more than usual. At least I think that was the cause.

It was probably more Three Mile Island chicken wings than Chernobyl.

 

[bronzdragon]

What a lot of folks aren't even bringing into the equation is that nuclear power plant allow us to produce a LOT more power then if we had to rely upon traditional fossil fuel plants. And at this point, certain areas of the country can't even produce enough power for their areas and have to bring it in from other states. I'd like to see a comparison done of how many people over the years have been seriously affected by nuclear power vs. people who have been seriously affected from having to work with fossil fuels, i.e. coal mining, working on oil rigs etc.

That would be a huge study.

I don't think there's a reason to worry about radiation from Japan over here. Of course I probably marked a few years of my life expectancy off when I lived on a nuke carrier while it was being rehabbed.

~rc~