Learning About Uranium, Radiation and Atomic Weapons

This blog was written by Nicolai after our spring break trip and is reposted here from his own blog.

It all started while I was looking at the uranium mill tailings pile in Moab, Utah. I started thinking about the cold war and Geiger counters. I then asked if we could get one. It was a big commitment- we had to get numerous books on radiation and learn about the different types of radiation. There was also the problem of “what Geiger counter should we buy?” We settled on a CDV-715 but it turned out to be a background radiation meter. The difference was that the  CDV-715 did not have a Geiger Muller tube.

Nicolai conducting radiation survey near Moab, Utah. UMTRA project in background.

The Geiger Muller tube is one of the main characteristics of a Geiger counter. It is what traps the radiation particles (beta and gamma) the two types of radiation a CDV-700 can detect. The CDV-700 is a true Geiger counter. It has the Geiger Muller tube as well as a phone jack to listen to the number of counts and it has a wand that the Geiger Muller tube sits in. Now comes the fun part of doing the tests!

Nicolai conducting radiation survey near Halchita, Utah. Waste cell is visible in background.

Our first test was in Moab at the uranium mill tailings. We had driven up to a sign board talking about the UMTRA project (Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action.) They are now moving the tailings to a waste disposal cell in Crescent Junction where it will be covered up to decompose. We then got out the Geiger counter and set it up. We walked as close as possible to the barbed wire fence and started our test. We started on Gamma which only comes from uranium and other materials that are used in making A-bombs. The result of the gamma test was 30 milliroentgens per hour.  Next we did Beta which is found in pretty much everything. The result for Beta was 31 milliroentgens per hour. That trip we did 13 tests total, some of which where background  radiation tests. We did all the tests close to the ground or on the ground also we did almost all the tests in the Morrison formation where all of the uranium comes from. Our conclusion for all of the tests is that the radiation levels we found at waste  and mine sites are not different from background radiation levels. Our next trip will be to Nevada where we hope to do some more tests soon.

Warning sign, Green River, Utah waste cell. Waste cell behind sign.