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FrozenGate by Avery

Radioactive Rock colecting.






did you ever experiment on how much these ore radiate?
and what kind of radiation that is?

its basicly a little fog producing chamber that idicates if there was a particle racing threw the cloud layer.
there is an easy experiment that you can do.
the dificult part about this experiment is to get some Dry ice and a Black metal plate.

maybe post some pics of your collection?
(no i am not collecting)
 
skavier480 said:
did you ever experiment on how much these ore radiate?
and what kind of radiation is this?)
Click to expand...

I've done a bit of experiments with some of the weaker pieces.
How different materials bloc the emission and such.
I have a GM detector( Geiger counter a Monitor 4 from SE International a must to collect these rocks and with uranium ores the emissions are basically all of them, Alpha ,Beta and gamma.
I limit my exposer to the hot ones.
United Nuclear will be selling a easy to use cloud chamber soon an I'm going to get one of those, no dry ice needed.

This is Malecite with unknown Uranyl content.

This is Carnotite/Thorite .


And for the guys thatI know about this stuff, yes I wore gloves and yes I wash after and yes checked afterwards for any residue. All clean
:beer:
 
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I collect pure elements and I've got this 99% U238 metal sample.

8148233678_9570998b3c_b.jpg


8148201849_c70cebefe0_b.jpg



I hope to get a similiar piece sometime, It's a pure crystalline Thorium bar.

thory.jpg
 
Great thread! +1 for you rockhounds!

I've not yet collected radioactive stones, but one little bit of trivia: There's a small town in central Texas that is the Uranium Capital of the US. Apparently, it was mined heavily there. IIRC, you can buy uranium rocks in the tourist shops all day long. I may have to take a drive..
 
There's Fleebay, and then there's the experience of taking my rock-hound daughter down to the Hill Country, with out pick hammers in hand, and digging for our own treasures. Ordering rocks lacks that priceless quality for me.
 
scumbagatheist said:
There's Fleebay, and then there's the experience of taking my rock-hound daughter down to the Hill Country, with out pick hammers in hand, and digging for our own treasures. Ordering rocks lacks that priceless quality for me.
Click to expand...

I know just what you mean. I used to do that with my daughter when she was little.
Happy hunting :D
 
Thorium and refined DU plate has always been on my wishlist.

I have a small 1/4gram sample of U238 but it is just drilling scraps. I have some pitchblende that I keep in a lead cask in the basement (overkill) that is considerably hot, somewhere around 15mR/hr. I had a 35mR/hr piece of autunite but sold it a few years back.

I keep my sealed RAD samples on my office desk as conversation pieces; vaseline (uranium) glass shot-glasses, U238 sample in ampoule, and a Tritium + phosphor ampoule. In my office I even keep a sealed Ra-226 Vacuum tube (only 8mR/hr on contact, mostly gamma), but not at my desk as it takes about 3ft for the gamma levels to die off sufficiently.

The biggest issue with ore and rock based samples is the radon emissions. The actual radiation is easy to shield and contain (space works best, but high Z materials too of course), it is the radon and radon daughters that become a problem whenever quantity of ore increases. Large collections should be forced air ventilated to the outside or stored outside.
 
Sigurthr said:
Thorium and refined DU plate has always been on my wishlist.

I have a small 1/4gram sample of U238 but it is just drilling scraps. I have some pitchblende that I keep in a lead cask in the basement (overkill) that is considerably hot, somewhere around 15mR/hr. I had a 35mR/hr piece of autunite but sold it a few years back.

I keep my sealed RAD samples on my office desk as conversation pieces; vaseline (uranium) glass shot-glasses, U238 sample in ampoule, and a Tritium + phosphor ampoule. In my office I even keep a sealed Ra-226 Vacuum tube (only 8mR/hr on contact, mostly gamma), but not at my desk as it takes about 3ft for the gamma levels to die off sufficiently.

The biggest issue with ore and rock based samples is the radon emissions. The actual radiation is easy to shield and contain (space works best, but high Z materials too of course), it is the radon and radon daughters that become a problem whenever quantity of ore increases. Large collections should be forced air ventilated to the outside or stored outside.
Click to expand...

I keep mine in a wooden box, soon to be shielded with RADMAX lead sheet, I'll have to paint the sheet as it's non organic.
When I open the box I do it outside and flush it out with new air. I do this weekly. The hottest sample I have is a chunk of gummite that puts out 26mR/hr, that piece lives in lead all ready. I think I'm about done getting samples, all that is left that I want Is a Tritium glow tube. That should be here next week.
:beer:
 
Radmax sheet is only good for low energy gamma and beta (but beware of the created bremsstrahlung!). Most natural ores are high in higher energy gamma which will go right through the radmax sheet. Thickness is key. I can't recall the half-width-thickness of lead for the various keV markers but I do remember that you need something like 3inches thick of lead to shield 99% of the 600KeV gamma rays from radium series daughters.
 
Yeah I'm going to use 1/2" Plexiglas for the beta, then the lead just to cut down the gamma a bit. As it stands now the highest reading I get is 0.3mR/hr contact and it drops down to 0.05mR/hr at 18 inches.
 
Ah that's not bad at all then.

Just watch your exposure when venting the radon buildup. It isn't the measurable dose but the volume of contaminated air you inhale that will get you. Radon is heavy so pour it out in a still air environment - I see lots of folks blow the radon out with their breath, a real bad idea.
 
Only slightly on topic, but wasn't the government looking into using UV lasers to detect radioactive cargo a while back?
 
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