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Or this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accide... In 1989, a small capsul
by georgecmu 6y ago
Or this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramatorsk_radiological_accide...
In 1989, a small capsule containing highly radioactive caesium-137 was found inside the concrete wall of an apartment building, with a surface gamma radiation exposure dose rate of 1800 R/year.
The source, originally a part of a radiation level gauge, was lost in the Karansky quarry. The gravel from the quarry was used in construction. The cesium capsule ended up in the concrete panel of Apartment 85 of Building 7 on Gvardeytsev Kantemirovtsev Street, between apartments 85 and 52.
Over 9 years, two families lived in Apartment 85. A child's bed was located directly next to the wall containing the capsule. By the time the capsule was discovered, 4 residents of the building had died from leukemia and 17 more had received varying doses of radiation. The accident was detected only after the residents requested that the level of radiation be measured in the apartment by a health physicist. Part of the wall was removed and sent to the Institute for Nuclear Research (NASU), where the cesium capsule was removed and disposed of.
The total number of deaths is alternately reported as 2, 4 (3 children and one adult), or 6 (4 children and 2 adults).
- fsflover 6y agoOr this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core
- WhiteSage 6y agoOr this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acerinox_accident https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acerinox_accident In May 1998, a caesium-137 source managed to pass through the monitoring equipment in an Acerinox scrap metal reprocessing plant in Los Barrios, Spain. When melted, the caesium-137 caused the release of a radioactive cloud. The Acerinox chimney detectors failed to detect it, but it was eventually detected in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The radioactive levels measured were up to 1000 times higher than normal.
- trenchgun 6y agoHow harmful is 1000 times higher than normal?
- divbzero 6y agoThis makes me want to get a radiation detector to test the places where I hang out.
- xur17 6y agoHow expensive is something like this?
- ilogik 6y agoyou can build your own https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14209 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14209
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y agoThat's cool, and cheap at 70. But it doesn't detect alpha radiation. Unless I missed something.
- folmar 6y agoYou can shield yourself from alpha with two sheets of paper.
- sjf 6y agoYou can still inhale and swallow it, internally it is more harmful than beta or gamma.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y agoWhat about washable face masks?
- cptskippy 6y agoYou can inhale those too but it's much harder.
- gambiting 6y agoIt looks like China(and potentially other places) are willing to accept incredibly dangerous(and expensive to recycle) material and melt it into their main steel supply. After all, cobalt diluted into a supply of steel is harmless, right? https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/radioactive-metal-tissue-box-holder-bed-bath-beyond-pulled-cobalt-60/1977257/#:~:text=Cobalt%2D60%2C%20a%20man%2D,ray%2C%20said%20state%20health%20officials https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/radioactive-metal-tiss.... I would really like to know how much of a problem is it, how much of global steel supply is tainted. Can we be buying cars and other items made with steel that's contaminated?
- swebs 6y agoIt should be easy enough to check with a geiger counter, right?
- wonnage 6y agoThe article you linked to said the shipment came from India... Either way, this is a legitimate concern that's happened in scrap metal processing all over the world: https://web.archive.org/web/20060614013429/http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/SealedRadioactiveSources/pdfs/handout_scrap.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20060614013429/http://www.iaea.o... Another interesting tidbit (and how I found the above pdf): all steel made after 1940 is slightly radioactive due to nuclear testing, and unsuitable for high sensitivity applications. Some ships sunk in WWI are the primary source of all low-background steel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel
- Lineup 6y agoThe references there mislead - The article concerning the ships states "minor salvage is still carried out to recover small pieces of steel" - "Primary" is an overstatement. In reality, a steel manufacturer can produce low background steel by using virgin ore for the smelting, but must know in advance of the run and be advised not to incorporate recycled material (including alloying agents). Some are willing to accommodate such requests for additional cost.
- 6y ago