[Milsurplus] TBY Radioactivity

[David Stinson]

Saw someone asked about this.  Radiation is like fire; you don't run
screaming from a single lit match, but you had better from a forest 
fire.

I have a first-run TBY (no number) and finally got it out with my 
counter.
Full contact against the face panel reads just under .1 milliREM/hr.
This is a match.  A wet match.
At two feet, it is essentually background.
I have a stack of aircraft panel instruments that is much hotter.

To put this in perspective:
In order for the average person to show any effect from
a short (less than hours) exposure to a radioactive source,
they would need to absorb about 100 REM.  This is evident
by a rise in white blood cell count.  Near 100% of people
will recover fully without further complications.
When speaking of what we call "prompt" or short-term exposures,
it takes much higher levels to get into injury and mortality.
The TBY emits one one-thousandths (.0001) of this level,
meaning you would have to put the panel up against your
skin for 41+ days to accumulate this dose in the small
exposed area.  No cause for worry as long as
the radium paint stays put and is not inhaled.
I've written before on how to fix that problem.
I believe it's been published on the net
by one of our kind members.

73 Dave S.