Thoriated Tungstens really are Radioactive.

[JMS1972]

I live in a High Radon area so have a Air quality monitor to monitor levels.

Just for fun I sat it on top of the pack of new Thoriated Tungstens for a day, this was the result!

Over 3x the long term average. I won't be chewing on those then... :-)

 

[Tinbasherdan]

They’re alpha emitters, and really cause problems when you grind them and inhale the dust

 

[JMS1972]

They’re alpha emitters, and really cause problems when you grind them and inhale the dust

I'll be grinding mine outside with a mask on I think =:-o

 

[Stueeee]

Every day is a schoolday... I still have some Thoriated Tungstens but usually use the Blue tip Lanthanated ones -hopefully there isn't anything nasty with those.

 

[JMS1972]

Every day is a schoolday... I still have some Thoriated Tungstens but usually use the Blue tip Lanthanated ones -hopefully there isn't anything nasty with those.

I think it is just the Thoriated ones that are Radioactive...

 

[AndersK]

Of you grind electrodes daily, full time, estimated radiation absorbtion is 8mSv (source Swedish Radiation Agency)
Maximum allowed dose for radiation workers are 100mSv during 5 years.

Needless to say, you don't need to worry much about Thoriated, but avoid grinding dust (but that applies to all grinding dust regardless of material).

It is even possible to extract weapons grade plutonium from thorium, can't even imagine how many 10-packs of 3/32 needed

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Of you grind electrodes daily, full time, estimated radiation absorbtion is 8mSv (source Swedish Radiation Agency)
Maximum allowed dose for radiation workers are 100mSv during 5 years.

Needless to say, you don't need to worry much about Thoriated, but avoid grinding dust (but that applies to all grinding dust regardless of material).

It is even possible to extract weapons grade plutonium from thorium, can't even imagine how many 10-packs of 3/32 needed

Don't say that.
Or the Americans will invade.

Oh the fun to be had on an USAF base when removing old style radioactive smoke detectors.
In the end we left them in their maintenance stores to sort out.

 

[mike os]

thoriated= contains thorium...

 

[Parm]

This is a good read

The use of thoriated tungsten electrodes - TWI (twi-global.com)

 

[mike os]

It is even possible to extract weapons grade plutonium from thorium, can't even imagine how many 10-packs of 3/32 needed

i thought thorium was a plutonium / uranium decay product?

 

[julianf]

It was a while back, but im pretty sure we use to put thoriated electrodes in the cloud chamber to show alpha decay.

It may have been another source, and im getting mixed up, but we certainly had thoriated electrodes knocking about as an example of alpha emittors.

 

[julianf]

It is even possible to extract weapons grade plutonium from thorium, can't even imagine how many 10-packs of 3/32 needed

Thorium is an element, hence you can not "extract" anything from it in that sense.

I dont know for sure, but i suspect the word element, and elemental (simple) refer to the fact that elements are the simplest things - ie the raw building blocks (or so we thought at that time)

 

[minimutly]

We (Dairy Crest when I worked there) used to have a moisture meter on a buttermaking machine that had a radioactive source - unbelievable eh?

 

[Parm]

We (Dairy Crest when I worked there) used to have a moisture meter on a buttermaking machine that had a radioactive source - unbelievable eh?

Not unusual to see radioactive sources in industrial sites for metrology purposes

Does the dairy crest butter melt itself when taken out of the fridge ?

 

[AndersK]

Thorium is an element, hence you can not "extract" anything from it in that sense.

Correct, I just gave a very condensed version of it.

Summary
The Department of Nuclear Weapons Related Issues at The Swedish Defence Re-
search Agency, FOI, as commissioned by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority,
SSM, conducted a study concerning the element thorium with emphasis on its nu-
clear applications. Thorium is not immediately useful as nuclear fuel but the element
can be converted to fissile uranium under the right circumstances. The occurrence of
thorium in the earth’s crust is four times as abundant as uranium, and theoretically
all thorium could be converted to fissile uranium, which in turn could be used to
generate energy in nuclear reactors. Compared to a nuclear fuel cycle converting
238U into 239Pu to be used in plutonium fuelled reactors, thorium could potentially
lead to an even larger energy reserve.
The report gives a description of thorium’s attributes and occurrence, and its appli-
cations outside the nuclear industry. The report also includes the pros and cons of
using thorium compared to the traditional use of uranium to fuel nuclear reactors,
and the requirements of infrastructure and nuclear reactor design. Also, a compila-
tion of the thorium reactor-related experiments that have been performed throughout
the world is presented. Extensive reactor core simulations have been performed to
investigate the usefulness of uranium bred in thorium reactors for nuclear weapon
applications.
India’s planned thorium reactor programme has been studied focusing on operability
and technical relevance. The programme is very ambitious. However, especially
concerning the second of the three stages – plutonium fuelled fast breeder reactors,
designed to generate 233U in a heterogeneous configuration – is technically doubtful
since it provides relatively small amounts of energy despite large investments, while
not being necessary from a technical point of view. Nevertheless, the second stage
could be used to consume reactor-grade plutonium while producing weapon-grade
plutonium

 

[Misterg]

Just for fun I sat it on top of the pack of new Thoriated Tungstens for a day

Out of curiosity (and for more fun!) try it without the top on the pack (i.e. bare tungstens against the monitor).

 

[Shox Dr]

TIG welding and the use of Thoriated Tungstens has been in use in industry for at least the last 60yrs. If there had been any problems with exposure I think we would have seen the effects by now.

 

[mtt.tr]

TIG welding and the use of Thoriated Tungstens in industry for the last 50yrs. If there had been any problems with exposure I think we would have seen the effects by now.

just like alcohol.... oh wait


i tend to agree especially in this age we are pretty good at identifying hazards thankfully

 

[Parm]

TIG welding and the use of Thoriated Tungstens has been in use in industry for at least the last 60yrs. If there had been any problems with exposure I think we would have seen the effects by now.

There is hazard but the risk is very low

Biggest issue is when there is a shared tungsten grinder in a production environment and it gets cleaned out with an air line

 

[Shox Dr]

There is hazard but the risk is very low

Biggest issue is when there is a shared tungsten grinder in a production environment and it gets cleaned out with an air line

What are the effects