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> Pig for radioactive material storage....
Pig for radioactive material storage....
This PIG has been painted yellow. It is in good condition, with very few dings or scratches that I could see.
This PIG is the best general purpose PIG I sell. It offers one of the best combinations of storage capacity and wall thickness. For this reason this is my most popular selling PIG.
This PIG can be used alone to store radioactive items or it can be used with a #8 PIG to block even more radiation. This is applicable only in cases where truly large amounts of radioactive materials are stored.
This PIG is made of 100% lead. Please don t be fooled by lead lined steel containers. Most of these contain simple lead foil less than a millimeter thick. These PIGS contain MANY times that thickness.
I have several different sizes available, but my supply is extremely limited.
The dimensions are as follows. Measurements are in inches.
US Quarter is included for comparison only.
Please read the section below concerning storage of Uranium ores and specimens.
Here is a PARTIAL listing of the various sizes I have available.
A PIG is generally any vessel or container used to block or otherwise limit the exposure to radiation emanating from a radioactive item.
This item was used to store large amounts of highly radioactive medical and laboratory supplies for various organizations such as nuclear pharmacies, nuclear medicine labs, or for various military and industrial applications, etc during transport. With this item, you will be able to SAFELY store your Vaseline glass, radium watch hands, uraninite, torbernite, autunite, and other uranium ores and specimens.
The original contents of these lead pigs were used for medical treatments or for research purposes. I must stress that although these items originally were used to transport some very nasty stuff, these items do not contain any residual radiation.
This container is quite heavy for its size and will render all but the most radioactive materials safe to store or transport. It will absorb all alpha and beta emissions, and a very large percentage of all gamma and x-ray emissions. In short, it will allow you to safely store anything that would be legal to own.
We don't need to be afraid of radiation, but we do need to respect it. If you have something that is radioactive you should always follow safety guidelines. These include:
1) ALWAYS store your radioactive material in a a PIG or other device designed to limit radiation exposure.
2) Always store your radioactive items as far away from where you live as possible. An outbuilding or shed is a much better choice than under your pillow at night. I could quote you the law of inverse squares but simply stated if you move from 5 feet away from a radioactive object to 10 feet away, you will have cut your radiation exposure by 75%. By the same token if you move from 10 feet away from a source to 5 feet away, you have just quadrupled your exposure to radiation.
Storage of Uranium, Uranium Ores and Specimens
Uranium is an high energy alpha particle emitter. Alpha particles have differing energies depending on whether the Uranium atoms are U-235, U-238, or another isotope but all are at least 4 MeV (4,000,000 electron volts) which is very strong. Fortunately an alpha particle is easily stopped. In fact a single sheet of paper will stop an alpha particle. However when an alpha particle is attenuated it will produce a HUGE cascade of x-rays. This is called Bremsstrahlung radiation.
If the Uranium ore is stored in a material with a high atomic number such as lead the average energy of these Bremsstrahlung x-rays will be very high as well. In other words you will need A LOT of lead to stop them. There is a simple way to reduce the energy of these x-rays.
To reduce the average energy of this radiation by 90% or more, all you have to do is store your uranium ores in a plastic bag inside the lead pig. The plastic bag is made of low atomic number atoms (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, etc) which will produce much weaker Bremsstrahlung x-rays. These weaker x-rays do not require as much lead to attenuate them.
It is not my intention to get into a war of words with anyone. However I think it is important to note that a PIG is not a toy. It is made to house RADIOACTIVE material. The ability of a given material to block radiation is directly related to its density, and lead is 2.5 times MORE DENSE than steel!!!
Please read the table below to get an idea of how much lead or steel you will need to stop a high energy gamma ray photon. I have tried to state the facts without getting bogged down in abstracts and terminology.
50% attenuation refers to the HVL or half value layer and means the amount of material required to stop 50% of radiation at a certain energy level. Generally most PIGs are designed to stop 50% of the radiation emitted by a specific isotope. ALL OF THE PIGs I SELL ARE CAPABLE OF MEETING THIS REQUIREMENT. In choosing a PIG your source must be considered and in my opinion (and in the opinion of several government agencies) it must be capable of blocking AT LEAST 50% of all radiation emanating from a sample.
90% attenuation refers to the TVL or tenth value layer and means the amount of material required to stop 90% of radiation at a certain energy level. Many of the PIGs I sell are capable of meeting this requirement as well.
The radiation energy level is measured in KeV or kilo electron volts. 100 KeV equals 100,000 electron volts. The higher the energy level the harder it is to stop and the thicker the shielding must be.
Once you get past 300 KeV, the amount of steel required is so much as to render it nearly useless.
Gamma Ray Attenuation in Lead and Steel
Radiation Energy Level (Gamma)
Lead Thickness Required for 50% Attenuation
Lead Thickness Required for 90% Attenuation
Steel Thickness Required for 50% Attenuation
Steel Thickness Required for 90% Attenuation
My source for this information is the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. As you can see the amount of steel required is as much as TEN TIMES thicker to do the same job as lead.
I want you to be satisfied with your purchase. If you have any problems with your purchase whatsoever, I will make it right if at all possible.
