Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: Tritium sources
Date: Jun 15, 11:28 am
Poster: Richaard Hull

On Jun 15, 11:28 am, Richaard Hull wrote:

I inevitably miss something in each post.......

The 10-12 year signs or "betalites" are filled to STP with tritium.

The longer life (18-20) year and much bright devices are actually pressurized to as much as 2 atmospheres with tritium. Some special military items are pushed even higher.

Tritium has a natural 12.33 year half life and produces only beta particles, and whimpy ones at that! The absolute maximum energy is 18.3 kev and the average is around 6kev. This makes the particles much weaker than the scanning electron beam in even a small black and white TV set.

Its natural proclivity to like with water molecules to form THO is well documented. T2O "triter" is very rare. The gas molecule T2 is rare outside of ultrapure sealed samples, and it is more likely to form DT and HT bond when in the presence of those atoms. This is the way it gets into the body with the target organ being the lungs.

With the body's huge uptake of water, Tritium instantly is taken up within the body via the lungs. The body also excretes water like crazy, too. So, the tritium stands a decent chance of cycling through quickly. Damage is done due to the massive intake of the material. A few microcuries of radium in the body is bad. Tritium can easily enter the body in curie amounts.

Richard Hull