Radiation Protection at an Aviation Museum

Abstract

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) will soon publish a proposed amendment to its rules that will classify the naturally occurring isotope Ra as "byproduct material" subject to its regulatory control. One of the uses of radium in the first half of the twentieth century was as a source of energy that would make certain consumer products "glow in the dark." In addition to wristwatches and other timepieces, this form of self-luminescence was widely used on aircraft instruments. There have been a number of facilities where large numbers of such instruments were stored and leakage of this isotope occurred. Subsequent decontamination of these areas, including expensive disposal of the radioactive waste, was required. We were asked to evaluate the potential hazards of aircraft and aircraft instruments at a museum in New York City, specifically the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. We present the results of our investigation and discuss the implications as they relate to the proposed new U.S. NRC regulations and compatibility issues with State regulations.

Radiation Protection Issues Related to Canadian Museum Operations

“…This result supports the contamination findings of Barish (2006), and, when considered with the National Air Force No detectable contamination was identified.…”

“…The authors have shown results that support the contamination findings of Barish (2006), and also results that indicate significant numbers of radioactive dials and loose contamination associated with museum and associated storage area operations.…”

“…In a recent paper by Barish (2006), consideration was given to proposed U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule amendments to classify 226 Ra as "byproduct material," which would subject this material to regulatory control. In his paper, Barish details the results of some investigations performed aboard the USS Intrepid.…”