[Rockhounds] Radioactive boy scout a la Harpers (was p=holes etc)

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Margaret,

The head of the state's DEQ confirmed they were involved and remediated
the contaminated shed and other radioactive items (last post at the end
of the link). Beyond a radioactive mess I question how much of the story
is accurate, but I suspect bad journalism more than bad science.

Makes me wonder what could be done with the radioactives in my mineral
collection. I've got pitchblende specimens from at least a dozen
localities. Something like the natural nuclear reactor found at the Oklo
Mine at Gabon in West Africa. <I hope that puts this back on topic>

But it seems like building your own reactor is discouraged -- see
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=169138 -- so I guess I'll
just keep on displaying the mineral specimens.

BTW, I got to see the reactor at U of M back in the late 60s and look
down at the core in the glowing pool from the walkway along the edge.
Cherenkov radiation is really pretty.

Kreigh



Margaret Malm wrote:
> 
> Yes, Kreigh. But what we are wondering is whether the whole story was a
> hoax, right from the beginning??
> 
> Margaret
> 
> http://www.groupsrv.com/science/about39974.html suggests the story is
> based on fact.
> 
> Kreigh
> 
> Margaret Malm wrote:
> >
> > Has anyone checked this tale out on the Urban Legends?
> >
> > Margaret
> >
> > Thanks, Pete, for the URLs.
> >
> > For the rest of us... Read the article.  Right!!!  Not!!!  For
> > starters, what's the melting point of barium sulfate?!!! He did not
> > do that on the stove top when his mom was out of the house!
> >
> > Golf Manor, Michigan is not identified by Google maps.
> >
> > It is informative, though not definitive, to do a search on Ken
> > Silverstein in Google.
> >
> > For this particular article, many scientific details are suspect,
> > though I lack the expertise to evaluate them quantitatively.  To me
> > this smacks of a clever writer looking for a literary score, which he
> > got - I suspect an investigation into his training would reveal
> > enough science (or enough friends) to be convincing but not enough to
> > be authoritative.  I can well believe that EPA may have come in and
> > declared a disaster, but that is a different issue entirely!
> >
> > By the way, I have two ~5 lb glass bottles of mercury on my desk
> > which I use as bookends for my CDs.  But that's not why I wrote this
> > note.  In fact, I'll probably get rid of them pretty soon.
> >
> > And I have some swamp land in New Jersey (elevation 14')  that in a
> > few hundred years will be prime beach front property - make an offer.
> >
> > Pete Richards