>
> Compare that with the annual death rate from accidents involving power
> generation from fossil fuels, particularly coal mining.
>
Did I tell the story here about the night I spent working in a coal mine, at
least 1000 feet below the surface? If so, I won't retell it. If not, I'll
tell it if people are interested.
>
>
> Do you mean 1/r or 1/r^2?
>
1/r^2. Alberto already caught this typo, so you don't get credit Ronn. :-)
>
> >So, a 1 curie source 1 meter away is more dangerous to you than a 1
> >megacurie source 1.5 km away from you.
>
That was calculated on 1/r^2.
>
> We had a curie-level source of Cs-137 that we used in the lab. When not
in
> use it was kept in a "safe" that was actually an old ceramic kiln lined
> with two layers of lead bricks*. I believe the weight of the safe was
over
> 1000 pounds: it had wheels mounted on the bottom so it could be moved,
but
> it took an effort.
>
We have to use a pig that weighs 100 lbs for temporary storage. About 1
meter away its fairly safe. You can transport it, but not in passanger
planes. I can even tell you the safety standards for puncture, etc. :-)
>
>
> Lead-lined underpants, made of the same thing as those aprons they use at
> the dentist's office, maybe? <vbg>
>
Well, with lead poisoning and all, the cure would be worse than the disease.
:-)
>
>
> Actually, that's exactly what we used around the accelerator
> enclosures: _solid_ concrete blocks (another thing that is remarkably
> heavy, especially when you have to repeatedly lift them to the top of a
> wall) made into a wall 3 feet thick.
>
Right, we used the same thing. I think reactors have poured concrete walls.
> And one of those "full-length" mirrors you normally find hanging on a
> bathroom door hanging at an angle from the ceiling to give the operator at
> the console a remarkably good view over the wall of the entire cyclotron
> chamber. Also closed-circuit video cameras, shielded inside grounded
> copper-mesh cages against the radio-frequency oscillating magnetic fields
> used in the accelerator.
>
I was in on the design of our source inspection station, with remote
montering, and handling, etc.
Dan M.
