allRadioactive, Author at allRadioactive

• Radiation Detectors

RAYSID – gamma spectroscopy on the go!

Today I want t show you a device that allows you to do gamma spectroscopy on the go! Let’s take a closer look at the RAYSID Gamma spectrometer.

RAYSID is a gamma compensated dosimeter, gamma spectrometer and radiation mapping/logging device all in one small package. There are 4 models with the cheapest being 300 euros and the most expensive being 600 euros. All of them have exactly the same features with the only difference being the value of the FWHM which is important only when doing gamma spectroscopy. So if you are not interested in doing gamma spectroscopy then you will be perfectly satisfied with the cheapest model but if you would like to do gamma spectroscopy then I would suggest you invest in the slightly more expensive model.

In terms of size, RAYSID is comparable to a Zippo lighter and weighs only 65 grams. Inside there is a rechargeable battery that lasts for over 10 days on a single charge. The heart of this device is a 5 cm3 Thallium activated Caesium Iodide (CsI(Tl)) scintillation crystal.

Inside the box, there is a manual, USB charging cable, caring case, selfie stick with a holder for RAYSID and RAYSID itself.

In order to use the RAYSID

to its fullest potential, it is best to connect it with RAYSID app. Unfortunately, the RAYSID app does NOT work with iOS and is only compatible with android 5.0 (or higher) devices.

In order to turn the unit on, we simply need to press the power button. Next, we can open the RAYSID app and connect RAYSID with our phone. In order to turn on/off the speaker simply press the power button once. To turn the unit off press and hold the power button.

Search mode

Search mode is useful when searching for radioactive hot spots. The upper side of the screen displays a graph showing current CPS and the dose while the lower side shows the rough gamma spectrum which is updated in real-time.

On the right side, there is a set of icons. The first one locks the display in the current position (vertical or horizontal). The camera icon allows you to take a photo with the current measurements.

Gamma Spectroscopy

One of the best features of RAYSID must be its ability to do gamma spectroscopy. Depending on the model, FWHM varies from >15% to <8.5%*. The smaller the FWHM the more accurate and narrow peaks. For the best result, it is best to have FWHM below 10%.

As of right now, the spectrum range is from 25 keV to 1000 keV which means you should be able to identify the most common radioactive isotopes such as U-238, Th-232, I-131 or Cs-137. In a future update, the range will be extended to 3000 keV allowing for the identification of radioactive isotopes such as K-40 or Co-60.

Another great feature is that RAYSID has a temperature compensation which results in the spectrum not being affected by the weather (in extreme cold or heat, spectrum mode is unavailable). Manual calibration can be done in the “settings” tab.

What I really like is that when doing a gamma spectrum, the app automatically identifies different isotopes based on their energy peaks which means you don’t need to analyse the spectrum to identify the isotope you are measuring. The average dose and CPS are also displayed.

It is also possible to save the background spectrum which helps visually to see any minor differences when measuring samples for a trace amount of radioactive contamination. In order to do that simply click on the “BG” icon with a “download” arrow. This will save the current spectrum as background. You can toggle on and off the background spectrum by pressing the “BG” icon.

Triple pressing the power button will restart the spectrum

*FWHM measured at 662 keV

Map

Since RAYSID is so small, it is very portable and you can take it anywhere you want. What is even better is that it automatically makes a map of background radiation anywhere you go! You can set the map to show background dose (uSv/h, uR/h) or background activity (CPS, CPM and Bq/m2 (only for Cs137)).

To enable global map press the “web” icon. If you wish to share your map with RAYSID global map than press “share” icon. If you want to delete point on the map click the “bin” icon and hover the red square over the points you want to delete

You can have a look at the current state of the map by clicking HERE

Alarm & Log

A CPS or dose alarm can be set in the “setting” tab. When an alarm is trigger, it will be logged in the “Log” tab. Double pressing the power button will turn the alarm on or off.

Conclusion

I personally think that RAYSID is the best device of its kind. Relatively low price and very good performance make it one of my favourite radiation detectors in my collection and since it is so portable, I take it everywhere with me! So if you are in the market for a portable gamma spectrometer I highly recommend the RAYSID.

By allRadioactive, 4 years3 years ago

• Unassigned

10th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster

Exactly 10 years ago, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit Japan marking the beginning of one of the biggest nuclear disaster in history.

The earthquake caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to switch to backup generators to run its cooling system. After about 50 minutes from the initial earthquake, a massive, 14-meter tall tsunami hit Japan’s coast damaging backup diesel generators at the FDNP. In the following days, hydrogen build-up in units 1, 3 and 4 caused them to exploded spreading radioactive fallout around the surrounding area and Pacific ocean.

Today, 10 years after the accident, the exclusion zone around Fukushima remains one of the most radioactive places on our planet and just like in Chernobyl, no-one knows how to deal with it…

By allRadioactive, 4 years ago

• Encyclopaedia of Radioactive Isotopes

Tritium – The radioactive isotope of Hydrogen

Today I want to show you an element that made the use of radium 226 in paint absolute! Let’s take a closer look at Hydrogen 3 or better known as Tritium!

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of Hydrogen with 2 neutrons which makes it unstable and thus radioactive. It was first discovered in 1934 by a group of three scientists, Ernest Rutherford, Mark Oliphant and Paul Harteck who have bombarded deuterium with high-energy deuterons which resulted in the creation of Tritium.

Today, Tritium is most often produced in nuclear reactors by neutron activation of Lithium-6. As a result, Lithium turns into Helium and Tritium

Tritium has a half-life of 12.32 years and it decays by beta radiation (5.7keV) and in the process, it also releases a gamma-ray (18.6keV). Since the energy of both beta and gamma radiation is so low, tritium can be safely used in consumer products.

Radiation coming from the Tritium marker isn’t directly caused by the Tritium itself. The beta particles don’t have enough energy to pass through the plastic and are stoped by it. This however causes Bremsstrahlung (X-Rays) which is then detected by the Geiger counter.

Until the 1960s, many watch manufactures used Radium paint in order to make the dials glow in the dark. However, Radium 226 is very dangerous and because of this it was banned and was replaced by Tritium which has similar radio-luminescence properties but is much safer to use.

Adrianov’s Compass with Radium 226 paint

The most common use for Tritium is in the production of radio-luminescent markers that are used in watches, gun sights. and emergency exit signs. The radio-luminescence is achieved by coating the Tritium vial with a layer of phosphor from the inside. When beta particles hit phosphor, they cause it to fluoresce releasing visible light.

Since Tritium has a half-life of 12.32 years, these markers will remain glowing for over 10 years depending on how much tritium there is in them.

Tritium can also be used as a nuclear battery generating electricity by converting energy from beta radiation. Many scientists claim that this technology is the future for deep space exploration where sunlight is too weak to generate enough electricity to power a spacecraft.

The MARS 2020 Perseverance rover already runs on a similar kind of battery which uses Plutonium 238 and I am sure that we will see more nuclear batteries in the future!

Don’t like reading? Watch a video!

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago

• Encyclopaedia of Radioactive Isotopes

Chernobyl fallout in Mushrooms!

On the 26th of April, 1986, reactor number 4 at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. As a result, a large amount of radioactive isotopes was released into the environment contaminating most of eastern Europe.

Today, 35 years later, most radioactive isotopes with short half-life have decayed with only 6 isotopes remaining in significant amounts from which Caesium 137 and Strontium 90 make the top of the list.

Recently, my good friend was in Belarus and during his trip, he collected some local mushrooms.

Why do I bring this up? Because mushrooms, particularly bay boletes, accumulate heavy metals. This means that if they grew in an area contaminated by radioactive fallout then there should be a detectible amount of Caesium 137 in them.

When measured with Ludlum Model 3 Survey Meter with a Johnson Pancake probe, the reading was around 150CPM which is over 3x the normal background radiation.

In order to make sure that the activity coming from these mushrooms is caused by Chernobyl fallout, I did a Gamma spectroscopy using RAYSID gamma spectrometer.

After a few minutes, a narrow peak started to form at 662keV, which is very characteristic for Caesium 137 which means that these mushrooms are contaminated by nuclear fallout from Chernobyl.

Gamma spectroscopy of the radioactive mushrooms (without lead castle)

Since I am not an expert, I can not tell you whether or not eating such mushrooms is safe but if you ask me, I do prefer non-radioactive ones!

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago

• Radiation Detectors

Is the Gamma-Scout Geiger counter any good?

Gamma-Scout is an iconic Geiger counter but is it any good? Let’s find out!

Before I start, I must say that the unit that I got is not stock. It has a new battery and the GM tube was swapped for Philips ZP1400 since the original Ludlum LND712 was broken. Lastly, I have also added a metal mesh in front of the GM tube for some additional protection when measuring alpha radiation.

The version I got is the Standard model which retails for around 380 euros. Gamma-Scout offer three other models. Alert model which has an audible clicking sound and a settable alarm, a rechargeable model that has a rechargeable battery and an Online model which allows user to connect the Geiger counter to PC wirelessly.

Despite the fact, the GM tube was not original, the results I got were fairly similar to my other Geiger counters which meant that Philips ZP1400 is a very good alternative to the LND712.

One small design issue that I noticed with the Gamma-Scout is that the GM tube is slightly pushed back into the meter. This means that detecting alpha particles will be more difficult since they have a very small range.

What I really like about this meter is that it can detect alpha, beta, gamma radiation and it shows readings in dose units as well as raw activity (CPS).

Unlike most electronic devices, Gamma-Scout has no on/off button. It remains always turned on until the battery dies. Luckily, this unit is designed to run for over 10 years without the battery running out, and if it does, Gamma-Scout recommends sending the unit back to them for battery replacement and calibration but in my experience, it is fairly easy to replace the battery by your self if you know how to solder.

Unfortunately, this meter also has some downsides. There are some quality control problems including the radioactive logo being distorted and the upper and lower body parts not fitting perfectly even with screws tighten. These are small issues but they should not exist on a Geiger counter that cost almost 400 euros!

What bothers me the most is that the standard model does NOT come with a speaker! In my opinion, a clicking sound should be a standard feature on EVERY modern, handheld Geiger counter. Even my cheap 30 euro DIY Geiger counter has a tiny speaker built-in. If you want audible clicking sound then you need to buy a more expensive Alert model.

Overall, I think that Gamma-Scout is a-OK Geiger-counter but it feels outdated and I find it to be overpriced. That is why I would not recommend the Gamma-Scout standard model and I would suggest looking at other meters from the competition. A good alternative that comes to my mind would be Radiascan 701.

By allRadioactive, 4 years3 years ago

• Site exploration

Why is Oranienburg the most radioactive city in Germany

Today I want to tell you how a small city located north of Berlin became the most radioactive city in Germany! Let’s take a closer look at the history of Oranienburg.

In 1892 a company called Auergesellschaft was founded with its headquarters located in Berlin. It specialised in production and research of thorium gas mantles, radioactivity and rare earth elements including uranium and thorium.

A factory called Auer-Werke located in Oranienburg specialised in thorium-based products like gas mantles or Doramad toothpaste. In 1939, it began production of high purity uranium oxide for Nazi’s nuclear program

Gas mantles used thorium to make them glow brighter. In fact, these mantles delayed the introduction of electric light by a couple of years! Today, such mantles are no longer in produced but they still can be found on the used market and they’re often used as a check source for Geiger counters.

Doramad toothpaste was produced from leftover products after producing thorium mantles. This radioactive toothpaste was supposed to give users many health benefits including stronger teeth and killing bacterias.

At the end of WW2, the US Air Force conducted a massive bombing of Oranienburg in order to prevent Soviets from capturing Nazi’s uranium. As a result, the Auergesellschaft factory was destroyed. This however caused large amounts of radioactive elements to be released into the surrounding area.

Today, 70 years later, there are still many places that show increased levels of radiation. During my trip, I found a few hot spots that measured around 2 uSv/h (beta+gamma).

Gamma spectroscopy of the soil samples collected near Auer-Werke factory revealed that the soil has a rather large amount of thorium 232 and its decay products in it.

As of right now, there are no plans for conducting a clean up of the area. This means that Oranienburg will remain the most radioactive city in Germany for the near future.

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago

• Encyclopaedia of Radioactive Isotopes

DP-63-A: The Most Radioactive Geiger Counter

Ok, this one was on my to-do list for a very long period of time. Today I’ll show you the most radioactive Geiger counter the world has ever seen. Let’s take a closer look at the DP-63-A.

The DP-63-A is a high range Geiger counter designed to detect contamination after a nuclear attack or an accident. It has two measuring ranges, 1.5 R/h and 50 R/h. The 1.5 R/h range uses the upper scale and 50 R/h range uses the bottom scale. In order to take a measurement, we must hold the 1.5 R/h or 50 R/h button that is located on the right side. Holding both buttons at the same time will result in a circuit test. This unit is equipped with 2x Geiger Muller tubes, one for the lower range and the other for the higher. DP-63-A also has a beta window which allows measuring beta+gamma or gamma only. Since these are high range Geiger counters, I don’t think there are very practical, unless you are planning on going inside of CNPP reactor 4.

These units were produced during the Cold war from 1958 until the 1970s. What makes them really interesting is the fact that the models produced from 1958 to 1966 used radium (Ra-226) paint on the scale. This was done in order to make the scale glow in the dark environment, however, it also resulted in the meter itself being extremely radioactive. Today the scale doesn’t glow at all even when light-up using a black light.

It seems that there are two versions of the radioactive DP-63-A. The early models had little bit more radium paint on them making them “hotter”. Few years after the production has started, the amount of radium paint was reduced in order to make the DP-63-As “safer” but they were still stupidly radioactive! These two versions can be easily told apart. The “hotter” units have a year of production written on the front panel, while the less radioactive ones have only the serial number. My unit is the “hotter” one.

Units produced after 1966 used luminance paint but it wasn’t radioactive like on early units. Unfortunately, units without radium scale look almost identical to the units with less radium paint. This makes finding a DP-63-A with radium scale more challenging.

My first shot at getting DP-63-A with radium scale was unfortunately unsuccessful. Luckily I managed to return it and I started looking for another unit but with radium scale.

After some time, I found an auction with DP-63-A from 1965. I reached out to the seller and ask him if the unit was factory sealed. Unfortunately, it was opened by someone else in the past but I still decided to pull the trigger after I got a really good deal on it.

When the packaged arrived I immediately knew that I got a unit with a radium scale since my Geiger counter was screaming when it was anywhere near the box.

After opening the box, I knew I had to remove the radium scale from the unit and put it into a lead pig for safety reasons before I could make a more detailed video on this Geiger counter.

Removing radium scale from DP-63-A

Although I removed all radioactive source, the unit was still radioactive. That was because radium 226 decays into radon 222 which is a gas, meaning the inside of the unit was heavily contaminated. I used a water sprayer in order to wash out as much contamination as I could. Unfortunately, radon decay products tend to “stick” to different surfaces which meant that even after a lot of decontaminating, the unit was still radioactive but luckily nowhere near the levels when I first opened it.

Inside of the unit, there are two Geiger Muller tubes but what is interesting, is the use of B-8 Strontium 90 Source (click here). You may ask why is there a check source right under Geiger-Muller tubes. Well, this is a great example of soviet engineering. If you look at the front scale you can see that the upper scale (1.5 R/h) has 0 in a different place than the lower scale (50 R/h). In order to compensate the 0 position, a strontium 90 was used to raise the needle slightly when using 1.5 R/h scales. The B-8 strontium 90 source reads around 1 mSv/h (1026 uSv/h) on the Terra-P when measured right next to SBM-20 GMT.

Now, let’s talk about the other check source this unit has to offer, the DP-63-A’s legendary radium scale. On first glance, it doesn’t look like radium paint. It has a white, slightly creams colour while usually, radium paint has a brown/dark orange colour.

The layer of radium paint is very thick making the scale insanely radioactive. When measured with my Terra-P, the readings seemed to be around 3.5 mSv/h which is around 3500uSv/h of beta+gamma and gamma only was 420uSv/h! These are some very scary numbers. Just to give you some perspective, on average, a human receives 3-5 mSv/year from natural background radiation. Just for fun I also measured the scale with my Ludlum Model 3 with alpha/beta/gamma SBT-11A tube. Even though I was on the x100 scale, Ludlum got maxed out instantly at over 500 000 CPM.

In order to store this radium scale safely, I put it inside of a plastic bag which I then put inside of another plastic bag which I then put into a glass jar which I finally put inside of a lead pig container. The reason why I used a glass jar is to prevent radon 222 from leaking out. As the result, I managed to reduce gamma radiation from 420uSv/h to only around 8 uSv/h. I’ve also used the rule of inversed square law and placed the lead pig with radium scale as far away as possible. At a distance of one meter, the dose dropped to the normal background when measured with my RAYSID gamma scintillator/spectrometer (click here).

Overall, the only reason why I would recommend this Geiger counter to anyone is for its two, strong check sources. This being said, I highly discourage anyone from opening this unit or removing the radium scale since it is extremely dangerous!

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago

• Radiation Detectors

Review of the DP-5V aka the Chernobyl’s geiger counter

Hi, Today I want to tell you a little bit about an iconic soviet Geiger counter which is probably most famous for being used during the Chernobyl accident clean-up, the DP-5V.

It is primarily made out of a very strong, military-grade, green plastic. Some people love the colour while others hate it. I personally am somewhere in between.

The unit measures 19x17x8cm (with caring case) and weighs around 3kg. The cable connecting the Geiger counter with the probe is fixed and measures around 115cm which allows for moving the probe comfortable.

Unlike its older brothers, DP-5A and DP-5B, this Geiger counter doesn’t require the user to set the correct voltage manually before use. This means it is simpler and quicker to operate.

To power on the unit we simply need to turn the selector switch that is located on the right-hand side. Just like in polish DP-66M, the first position means the unit is turned off, the second is a battery test, the third is 200 R/h scale (bottom scale), the fourth is the upper scale in mR/h x1000, the fifth is the upper scale in mR/h x100 and so on until the eighth position which is x0.1.

The rotary switch is very hard to move which prevents the user from accidentally switching to a different scale. This being said, in my opinion, it is way too hard to move and I feel that I could break it just by switching from one scale to another. I much more prefer the selector switch on my Ludlum.

The scale on this unit, as well as the area around the selector switch, is covered in luminance paint (it is not radioactive like in DP-63-A). Unfortunately, since these units are pretty old, the glow does not last for very long. There are also two small light bulbs that can light up the display if we would be taking measurements in a dark environment. Turning the light on is done simply by flipping the switch on the left side of the unit.

Scale and area around the selector switch under UV light

Since this is a military Geiger counter, it is waterproof, however, I would still suggest you keep it away from a wet environment because the seals are old and can leak water inside!

Calibration can be done very easily by adjusting potentiometers after opening the unit.

One very annoying thing about this meter is the fact that it runs on obsolete soviet batteries. Luckily, it is fairly easy to make adapters for AA batteries using cardboard and some aluminium foil or to bend the contacts. The unit runs on 2 batteries while the third one is used to power on the light bulbs.

Another negative thing about this meter is its very small display which measures only 5x3cm compared to DP-66M’s 7.5x4cm or to Ludlum’s 6×3.8cm. The display on DP-5V also seems to be placed pretty deeply which makes the viewing angle much more narrow.

There is a headphone out but it uses a weird, obsolete connector which means that you can only connect the original headset to it. Sadly, mine did not come with the headset so I decided to make my own speaker using 2x screws, a buzzer with a generator and Polymorph plastic.

On the bright side, the needle moves smoothly and doesn’t jump around like in Universal Radiation Meter Model 1700.

The DP-5V has two Geiger Muller tubes, an STS-5 for the lower range and a SI3bg for higher. The beta window has an area of around 3cm^2 which allows more particles to hit the tube making the unit more sensitive.

Originally, these units came with B-8 Strontium 90 check source, however, mine had its removed.

B-8 Sr90 source sealed in an epoxy inside of DP-5V’s beta shield

Wrapping things up, this unit is a solid Geiger counter and is a great choice if you are just starting out or you are looking for something with more Cold War vibe.

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago

• Radiation Detectors

Universal Radiation Meter 1700

Hey guys! I hope you are doing well. Today I want to tell you a little bit about this lovely antique gamma scintillator so grab your morning coffee or evening popcorn (depends on what time zone you’re in) and enjoy.

This unit was produced (most probably) during the 1960s in Canada by a British company called Nuclear Enterprises. The meter itself is called Universal Radiation Meter Model 1700 and the serial number on my unit is 71.

What makes this unit unique is the fact that it was purchased and used by the Polish Nuclear Agency (Państwowa Agencja Atomistyki). How do I know that? Well, Poland was a communistic country until the late 80s. This meant that it was pretty much impossible to get things from outside of Poland (not to mention scientific equipment). The only people who had the power to import things were state agencies and party members. While being used by state agencies, this unit was modified to run of 4x AA batteries or a power supply (PT-1).

After the fall of communism, this unit was sold to the private market and then it finally found its way into my hands.

This meter although designed for scientific use is not very precise. The needle on the meter doesn’t stay in place and jumps all the time making it impossible to measure things accurately. What is more, the unit was most probably designed for high-level gamma radiation detection since weak samples are not (or barely) detected.

https://youtu.be/Nt8MVYpNI0c

Although not perfect, this meter is a really cool antique gamma scintillator with an amazing history behind it.

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago

• Encyclopaedia of Radioactive Isotopes

Quantum of Science: Scalar Energy Pendant

Hi, I have finally received my Quantum Scalar Energy pendant. Inside the box there was a card of authenticity and of course, the medalion which will be the main focus of this post.

The pendant is made from lava stone which has a really nice mat-black colour. There is also a rubber ring around it for additional protection.

What I did find interesting, is the fact that this medalion appeared to be radioactive, but why?

In order to find out, I used RAYSID gamma spectrometer for isotope identification. Here is spectrum after 4h and 15 minutes. As we can see, RaysID automatcly identified different energy peaks.

Here is the same spectrum but with my annotations. All peaks detected by RaysID seem to be within 1% error range. Very impressive considering RAYSID size.

4h 15min gamma spectrum with annotations

The peak on the left, at 78 kev comes from X-ray flourence. There are two peaks from Actinium 228 at 129 kev and 338 kev. The peak in the middle at 238kev is from Lead 212 and the peak at 583 kev from Thallium 208. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to identify peaks at 43 kev and 682 kev.

The isotopes detected are daughters of Thorium 232 and as we can see RAYSID already informs us about possible Thorium content.

Conclusion: Traces of thorium can be found in lava which can make it slightly radioactive.

By allRadioactive, 4 years4 years ago