[R-390] Sticking Carrier Meter

[Tisha Hayes]

Regarding the potential for radioactive exposure or contamination from
panel meters;

I have worked with radioactive materials for most of my adult life,
including leaking sources and gross contaminants. Most of what you
will find in a panel meter would be Radium 226 mixed with a
fluorescing material. As an external radiation hazard you would need
tens or hundreds of times more radium than is used in a panel-meter to
be any sort of risk. An old piece of orange Fiesta-Wear dishes is much
more radioactive (they used uranium as a salt to obtain the orange
color in the glaze).

Old radium paints become "friable". Meaning that they are prone to
flaking due to the fact that it is; 1) an old paint. 2) radiation
bombardment over decades has a tendency to loosen up paint particles.
This means that you do not want to be touching or rubbing the painted
surface as it can rub off. Once the material is loose then it becomes
a potential external and internal contaminant. I would suggest a
simple dust mask as has been mentioned by other and cheap surgical
gloves when handling.

We had a few tricks that you can adapt to varying degrees;

1) apply a piece of clear shipping/ packing tape across the meter
face. This fixes the radioactive materials in place and eliminates the
contamination hazard. It does not look bad if you do it right and
leave it in place when you are finished. Just trim up the edges of the
tape.

2) Always work in a pre-cleaned area and make a little work area to
capture any loose particles. If you have the packing tape, make it
into a 6-10" wide loop with the sticky side out and let it adhere to
your desk. Just work above this piece(s) of tape and any material that
falls off will get stuck on the tape.

3) Thoroughly clean the area after you are done with soapy paper
towels and water.

4) Thoroughly clean yourself (hands, face, arms, etc...) when you are
done. This too is with "real" soap and water (not a guy's way of
washing up that involves getting your hands wet and wiping them on
your pants <lol>).

I only got "crapped up" one time where I had to leave my right shoe
behind after walking around on the other side of the purple and yellow
tape. Sometimes we would set off a hand and foot detector but one
visit to the sink with soapy water and towels eliminated those
contamination incidents.

You definitely do not want to be grinding up the paint from a
half-dozen panel meters and snorting it as Radium 226 is treated by
the body like calcium and goes right to the bones.

Tisha Hayes
formerly a FEMA Radiological Instructor III, DOE certified dosimetry
control officer, "lab-rat" at a few national laboratories
AA4HA

-- 
Ms. Tisha Hayes/ AA4HA
-
"Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain"