Safe radiation levels

[aviator41]

Scenario: we have experienced nuclear war and survived the initial blast.

Is there a rule of thumb on safe levels of radiation exposure?

are there meters available to the civilian world that will allow one to measure rads at these levels?

Like many other types of measurement equipment, I am sure Geiger counters come in ranges. Given this situation what counter would you want at your disposal? how is it calibrated, and how is calibration done?

Ya'll education me.

 

[dennishoddy]

My last duty station in the Army was Ft Leavenworth Ks. I was assigned to be the post radiological officer among other duty's because of the background of working with HF RF, some of which was radioactive.

Instead of putting out a long winded post, I'll put this link here:

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/1994/safe-0105

You can buy Geiger counters on line.

History.... it was amazing how many military personell still had the watches that used radio active materials to make the dials glow after dark. On of my duty's was to question the newbs and see if they had any of them in there possession. They were issued to the military in the past.

http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/luminous.htm

 

[aviator41]

So whats the difference between a rem and a rad? Are they the same unit of measure?

 

[dennishoddy]

Also to prevent a long winded description, http://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?s=239

* Rad: Or, Radiation Absorbed Dose recognizes that different materials that receive the same exposure may not absorb the same amount of energy. A rad measures the amount of radiation energy transferred to some mass of material, typically humans. One roentgen of gamma radiation exposure results in about one rad of absorbed dose.

* Rem: Or, Roentgen Equivalent Man is a unit that relates the dose of any radiation to the biological effect of that dose. To relate the absorbed dose of specific types of radiation to their biological effect, a "quality factor" must be multiplied by the dose in rad, which then shows the dose in rems. For gamma rays and beta particles, 1 rad of exposure results in 1 rem of dose.

 

[ditchDr]

There is some incidental radiation information on this site about Chernobyl. Some very interesting reading. I go back to it from time to time. Easy to spend an hour or two there. http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/chapter1.html

 

[Mike_60]

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

http://www.geigercounters.com/index.htm

 

[Blitzfike]

One of my post USAF jobs was working at the Component Overhaul and Repair Center that Lier Siegler had in NE OKC. I worked almost anything that came in to the facility due to my training. We had a specialist who repainted the radium dials on some of the aircraft instruments. Kept the stuff in a standard locking sheet metal cabinet in the middle of the work room. Looking back on that (I left in 1971) I wonder how many folks developed illnesses due to that.

 

[dennishoddy]

Any scrap yard in Okla has Geiger counters. They check oil field scrap for radiation before they will buy it. Run it by them if you don't want to buy a personal model.

 

[761mph]

sportsmansguide has "new, never used " US surplus radiation detctors
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/new-us-military-surplus-radiation-detector?a=1707759
i can't say whether it's a good price or not, but in the past(10+ years) they were alot cheaper