🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <C1Dz9t.AF7@cscns.com>, bbaker@cscns.com (Brian Baker) wrote:
> So my questions are....
> 
> ->	Are these Brehmstrahlung X-rays something to be concerned about?
Yes.  The other poster's discussion of following good radiation practice
is appropriate here.
> ->	What is the mCi limit of a high energy beta emitter (such as
> 		32-P) which will produce a harmfull level of X-rays from
> 		plexiglass (or very thin lead shielding)
> ->	Am I way off base in saying this guy should learn the facts before
>   	 	causing unnecessary worry?
Yes, you are way off base.  When working with radiation of any kind,
one should know the facts before proceeding, not proceed until the facts
are known.
> ->	Just what is the ionizing potential of a Brehmstrallung X-ray?
It is ionizing radiation.
> ->	What is the ionizing potential of a higher energy X-ray?
Cross section depends on energy of xray and particular absorber.  As
energy goes up, more energy is available for ionization, though cross
section may drop.
> ->	I was taught you would get more X-ray dosage from a transcontinental
> 	  	flight then you would from being exposed to a high level
> 		Brehmstrallung X-rays.  Is this true?
No.  There is no difference between a Brehmstrallung X-ray or any
other x-ray, other than how it is generated, if the x-ray photons are
the same energy.  The question is what is the total dose received by
someone exposed to the x-rays.  A Brehmstrallung source can be weak
or strong.
>
I suspect the dosage is low, from your description, but you should have
it checked out by a radiation safety officer before you proceed.

(Yeah, I had to do radiation checks as an operator at an accelerator
facility years ago.  The funny thing was one day, for the hell of it,
I did my normal survey in a metallurgical lab elsewhere on campus.  And
damn if I didn't find a hot spot in the middle of a worktable.  There
was nothing there, until I looked under the blotter.  A small piece of
wire, that was all, hot as hell, was later determined to be a neutron
irradiated sample from a set received many years previously.  May well
have been there for years.  Right at the perfect working height, just
below your belt!  YOU CAN'T BE TOO CAUTIOUS WORKING WITH RADIATION!
Someone SHOULD have surveyed before and after handling those materials.)

Derrick C. Mancini
Fysiska Institutionen  -  Uppsala Universitet
Box 530  S751 21  Uppsala  Sverige
mancini@fysik.uu.se
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