Question Regarding Older Models

[shadowtiger25]

So, dont know where this belongs, but I felt like this area would give the most response.

 

I was thinking about the Fukushima disaster, and wondering about any models made before 2011 as I have a few. Should I be concerned at all about radiation on models (particularly since areas in the evac zone are being resettled and older stuff could be found and sold) , or am I just being paranoid?

[railsquid]

You are just being paranoid.

[cteno4]

I seriously doubt they would be all that contaminated if you did get one, but I doubt there are many from that situation on the market. If you were concerned you could wipe the case down with something like a wet wipe wearing gloves and dry off with paper towel to try to remove anything on the case. probably won’t work as well on the trains, but should. It would be cs-137 on things that would be radioactive, should come off easily. But I think any contamination on a train that was in a house will be really minimal. A gamma monitor is gunna cost you. 

 

have you ever checked your residence for radon? If you worry about radiation then there is probably many orders of magnitude chance you are getting radiation exposure from that rather than a potential contaminated train from Fukushima.

 

jeff

[Davo Dentetsu]

1 hour ago, shadowtiger25 said:

So, dont know where this belongs, but I felt like this area would give the most response.

 

I was thinking about the Fukushima disaster, and wondering about any models made before 2011 as I have a few. Should I be concerned at all about radiation on models (particularly since areas in the evac zone are being resettled and older stuff could be found and sold) , or am I just being paranoid?

I don't want it to be construed as an insult to you per say, but it is a bit bonkers.  As the above has posted, a half life of anything would pass and the background of your own surroundings would influence you more anyway.

[cteno4]

Actually cs-137 has a half-life of 30 years.

 

jeff

[Yavianice]

Nothing to worry about. You are more likely to be affected by radiation by pretty much anything else. Besides items inside the exclusion zone will forever remain there.

[railsquid]

Unless someone comes along and steals it.

 

2 men arrested for stealing from Fukushima exclusion zone

 

But realistically, the chances of a model train in the exclusion zone being exposed to any significant radiation, then somehow making its way onto the second hand market, then finding its way into the collection of someone living overseas, are pretty minimal.

 

 

 

 

[nah00]

Everything that goes through US Customs is checked for radiation by a gamma ray detector. If there was anything other than background radiation on it it would not pass. As it stands the chance of contamination is next to non-existent. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by nah00

[Welshbloke]

Tbh the radiation in the zone is still less than the natural background in some parts of the world. I'd be more worried about being hit by one of the terminally confused drivers in town here than I would be about strolling around Fukushima.

[Sheffie]

I’d say that the instructions above would take care of the most likely contamination, i.e. small particles on the outer case. Even that mechanism is very unlikely to actually deliver an alpha emitter into your body. Certainly there won’t be anything significant inside packaging. Anything that got irradiated with gamma rays (a statistically small danger) ought to be well past its half life by now. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Sheffie

[cteno4]

It’s so easy to get freaked by the odd stuff like this with minuscule risk, but it’s the daily things like driving on the freeway that has many many orders of magnitude greater risk we accept without thinking about. We did a risk game way back for jr high school kids that compared risks and it was fun to see the kids start thinking about things and putting things more in perspective.

 

Jeff

[Welshbloke]

An awful lot of money has been spent fostering radiophobia amongst the general public over the past few decades. The old Linear No-Threshold model (under which any exposure to radiation increases cancer risks, regardless of how small) has been widely debunked where low doses are concerned, but is still responsible for large numbers of people not being allowed home near Fukushima. The resulting stress is probably more harmful than slightly raised background radiation.

[shadowtiger25]

10 hours ago, nah00 said:

Everything that goes through US Customs is checked for radiation by a gamma ray detector. If there was anything other than background radiation on it it would not pass. As it stands the chance of contamination is next to non-existent. 

Did not know they did that. Thats reassuring.

 

Ether way, I posted this after watching a video about the current state of the 12 mile zone.

It was just paranoia, but still..

7 hours ago, cteno4 said:

It’s so easy to get freaked by the odd stuff like this with minuscule risk, but it’s the daily things like driving on the freeway that has many many orders of magnitude greater risk we accept without thinking about. We did a risk game way back for jr high school kids that compared risks and it was fun to see the kids start thinking about things and putting things more in perspective.

 

Jeff

Eh, it was a small thought that ran through my head late at night before bed.. 

[railsquid]

Quote

Eh, it was a small thought that ran through my head late at night before bed.. 

 

Like a burst of gamma radiation?
 

I'll get my coat. It's the one with the green glow.

[cteno4]

Perhaps a galactic gamma-ray burst!

 

seriously our mind’s tend to go to the exotic, very low risk things and we put normal high risk things out of our thoughts.

 

jeff

[Davo Dentetsu]

Science is weird and wonderful though, isn't it?  I wish I paid more attention at school and attained the level of science... um, chap.

[cteno4]

couldnt resist...

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Science!

[cteno4]

Funny thing tonight I was doing a pile of paperwork and innthe excavation I found a Thomas Dolby cd that never got imported into itunes! Ironic. 

 

It was a big dance tune for us in grad school along with the talking heads and dire straits — trying to jump off the lab bench and nail the air guitar stoke on money for nothing at 11...

 

jeff