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Welcome to our site! We're enthusiastic "science geeks" who want to share with you our interest in radiation and the instruments to measure it. Unlike some other sites, we're not really here to scare you silly or stampede you into buying something you don't need. Nuclear radiation (or, "ionizing radiation") is a normal part of our natural environment. Our planet contains vast quantities of radioactive materials. The sun puts out a continuous stream of nuclear radiation, and the very cosmos is alive with super-energetic cosmic rays. All of this radiation is invisible to our senses, even though it is all around us all the time. In fact, there is even some thought in scientific circles that the normal level of "background" radiation (as this naturally occuring radiation is called) might be important to our lives. With a scientific instrument designed to measure this energy, you can, for the first time, see and explore a little more of your surroundings! With this added ability, you can build on your understanding of the environment, find things that others can't, and gain added power in protecting yourself, your family, and even your community. Someone we know, a dyed-in-the-wool Geiger Counter hobbyist, discovered that a contractor hired by his community to re-pave the roads was using minerals in the pavement that far exceeded standards for allowable radiation. With his diligence, his community was informed, and possible hazards were averted.

Radiation Safety

The government, utilities, laboratories and even some hospitals have had a poor record of safety when managing their radioactive isotopes, programs and processes. Millions of tons of partially-spent and contaminated materials are now stored in less-than-ideal temporary storage pits, drums, and mounds, and some fraction of that seems to escape periodically into the surrounding environment. Recent terrorist events around the world have raised the spector that one day either a "dirty bomb" could be set off in a populated area, or an attack on a large waste storage facility could result in a massive release.

Added to this is the ongoing concern about the operation and supervision of commercial civilian nuclear power plants, and the ever-present typical hazards which can be encountered in daily life. Radium paint was used on all sorts of instruments, dials, and clocks for many years until we realized what a hazard it is. Although many of the items painted with it years ago no longer glow, it isn't because the radioactivity of the paint has diminished. It hasn't! "Radium paint" actually has two active ingredients required to make it glow, the first is radium, a radioactive metal with a half-life of many thousand years. The second is a phosphor compound that gives off light when it's bombarded by radiation. The reason old radium paint doesn't glow any more is because the radioactive bombardment has destroyed the phosphor compound. The radium is still there, except that some of it is probably now shedding as the old paint turns to dust!

During the Depression era, many brilliantly-colored pottery glazes were based on Uranium compounds. Since Uranium was discovered in the 19th century, it has been used in decorative glassware. This "Vaseline" Glass, not to be confused with the jellied petroleum product of the same name, contains Uranium Oxide instead of Iron Oxide as a colorant. Clear in artifical light, it fluoresces green in sunlight and ultra-violet for a very striking effect. Unfortunately, 24 hours a day it also emits small amounts of gamma and beta rays.

Gasoline camping lanterns and gas flame lanterns use a cloth mantle impregnated with mineral salts that fluoresce white in a gas flame. Unfortunately, for many years, strongly-radioactive Thorium was a key element in the mix. Manufacture of these thoriated mantles has been gradually discontinued, first in the U.S. due to an inability to comply with OSHA worker-protection rules, and then in other major manufacturing centers after a safer substitute was found. In place of Thorium, currently manufactured mantles use a mixture of non-radioactive rare-earth elements, including Yttrium. However, if your lantern is more than a few years old, its mantle is probably "hot". And, if your local hardware store bought a bunch back then, or hasn't rotated their stock, they may still have some Thorium mantles for sale. Be very careful handling the powder of old, used mantles. Thorium has a half-life of millions of years, so a burned-up old mantle is still as "hot" as the day it was made. Especially avoid inhaling any of the dust from a broken mantle. An intact old mantle is not hazardous, although being little more than a web of ash, the second you touch it, it won't be intact any more!

Should you worry about any of this? Well, yes and no. One of the problems with nuclear ionizing radiation is that it is invisible and undetectable without special instruments. The most important thing is knowledge. Knowing how safe your environment is can be a huge reassurance. Being able to measure and monitor your surroundings is essential. Having an alarm in the house, whether for fire or carbon monoxide, allows us to avoid needlessly worrying about these things. Now, you can do the same for nuclear radiation. We carry professional-quality products which can offer you this reassurance, and provide you with some real preparedness.