DIYbanter - View Single Post

wrote:
Newshound wrote:

It's actually for testing an old Geiger counter that was a Maplin kit.

The natural K40 in high potash fertiliser will give you about double the
natural background.

I was told that the radiation detectors at Sellafield/Windscale were
sensitive enough to trigger an alarm if somebody went past them
carrying a pack of cigarettes - the potassium nitrate in them from (a)
tobacco being fertilised and (b) being added to ensure they don't go
out when lit being radioactive enough. I could never find a source for
that story, 'though, despite a lot of searching. It seems unlikely, if
you read the article in the reference URL below.

The natural radioactivity of the normal isotopic mixture of potassium
on Earth is interesting - it being the major source of radioactivity
within the human body.

See
URL:http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~scdiroff/lds/QuantumRelativity/RadioactiveHumanBody/RadioactiveHumanBody.html

Following up on the above, buy a pack of Lo-Salt, which is about 66%
Potassium Chloride. Its radioactivity (due to the potassium 40) will
be significantly above background levels. See here
URL:http://www.blackcatsystems.com/science/radprod.html

Cheers,

Sid.