Nuclear Bomb Detector / Electromagnetic Radiation / Forums

Forums

4hv.org :: Forums :: Electromagnetic Radiation

« Previous topic | Next topic »

Nuclear Bomb Detector

1 2 next

Move Thread

LAN_403

Adam Munich

Tue Jun 19 2012, 04:06AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

I've recently acquired something which I can best describe as a cold war era nuclear bomb detector. Whether or not such a device is legal to own is a matter of debate, but nonetheless I have here a few pictures.

On the outside, it looks like an innocent, albeit slightly heavy suitcase.

UdQTK

On the inside though one finds no boxer briefs, but rather a tape recorder, a microphone and a big aluminum chassis.

CN0Ojh

Inside one of the small aluminum boxes there appears to be a high voltage power supply; transformer, cockroft walton etc.

KsRYWh

And in the other; a very fancy amplifier. Sadly I have yet to get any sign of life out of these circuits :-/

UjNNC

Inside the metal chassis we have what looks like an array of HV feedthroughs.

T7HDS

And on the other side, HPDE and a whole bunch of aluminum tubes. Yep, this is now officially a nuke detector.

J848P

I'll keep everyone updated as I manage to find information about this neat toy.

Proud Mary

Tue Jun 19 2012, 09:19AM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Air transport cosmic ray dosimetry - an intensively researched area.

In Europe, and doubtless in the Great Elsewhere, airline companies are obliged by law to undertake such cosmic ray exposure monitoring.

"Each Member State shall take the necessary measures so that companies operating aircraft take into account the exposure to cosmic radiation of flight crews who are likely to be exposed to more than 1 mSv per year. The company shall take the necessary measures in order to
- assess the exposure of the relevant personnel,
- take the assessed exposure into account when organising work programmes such as to reduce the doses of highly exposed flight personnel,
- inform the employees in questions of the possible dangers to their health resulting from their work,
- apply article 10 to female flight personnel.â€ (i.e. pregnancy)

* Article 42, EURATOM directive nÂ° 96-29 13 May 1996

In the days before "terror" your suitcase dosimeter would have just been sent backwards and forwards as unaccompanied baggage, with someone changing the tapes at either end of the journey.

As for the age of the dosimeter, I would guess the late seventies to mid eighties, judging by the use of cassettes for data logging, the look of the PC boards, and the style of the suitcase itself. The microphone would have been used to identify the tapes as to time, date, place, flight number and so on.

Adam Munich

Tue Jun 19 2012, 11:30AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

But with 30 neutron counting tubes? That seems a bit excessive in that application.

From the looks of it, the tape would record pulses on one track and audio on the other; yet there'd be no reason to use a microphone in an airline dosimetry application.

Proud Mary

Tue Jun 19 2012, 01:15PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Gren wrote ...

But with 30 neutron counting tubes? That seems a bit excessive in that application.

From the looks of it, the tape would record pulses on one track and audio on the other; yet there'd be no reason to use a microphone in an airline dosimetry application.

Why do you think they are neutron detectors?

Steve Conner

Tue Jun 19 2012, 03:18PM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

I guess because they're surrounded in HDPE, which is well known as a neutron moderator?

Proud Mary

Tue Jun 19 2012, 04:57PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Neutron fluence is the most significant element of aircraft crew and passenger cosmic ray exposure and is extensively monitored.

See: Bartlett D. T., 2004, Radiation protection aspects of the cosmic radiation exposure of aircraft crew Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 109, No 4, pp. 349-355.

Adam Munich

Tue Jun 19 2012, 11:11PM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

Looks like it is, in fact a nuclear bomb detector. Apparently they'd be deployed with the men in black to be carried around key targets; super bowls, presidential speeches, border entrances etc.

Albeit mine is a bit lower budget than the los alamos prototype...

Josh Campbell

Tue Jun 19 2012, 11:33PM

Registered Member #5258 Joined: Sun Jun 10 2012, 10:15PM
Location: Missouri - USA
Posts: 119

Looks like the type of thing you would see an "observer" caring around in Fringe. Pretty cool. Do you plan on bringing it back to life or just admiring it? Maybe replace the antiquated analog counters, dividers, and shift registers with a micro controller.

Proud Mary

Wed Jun 20 2012, 12:14AM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

So you think your device is a version of the Los Alamos detector, but with a different suitcase, different number of tubes, and no control panel?

One thing that does fit is the date on the Los Alamos paper - 1978 - which matches both the technology and the suitcase style, so perhaps you are right, Gren.

Adam Munich

Wed Jun 20 2012, 12:50AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

That was a press release on a los alamos prototype; this one could very well be a derivative of that work for field use.

I'm doubting it's an airline tool though; no airline in their right mind would send $40,000 worth of He-3 neutron counters through the luggage system unattended.

From what I was told about the suitcase... "It was given to me by my buddy who worked for the FBI for a number of years. They had it laying around the office for quite some time and I saved it from the scrap yard. Looked pretty cool, but its been sitting in my garage for 10 years. Here, take it and see if you can get it working."

1 2 next

Moderator(s): Chris Russell, Noelle, Alex, Tesladownunder, Dave Marshall, Dave Billington, Bjørn, Steve Conner, Wolfram, Kizmo, Mads Barnkob