Walmarts nuclear blunder: Retailer mishandled radioactive exit signs — DailyFinance __ Radioactive signage. Cripes. What next?
Walmart isnt the only retailer getting targeted by the NRC for questionable disposal of tritium-based exit signs. Sixty other companies, including Home Depot HD, Northwest Airlines DAL and Bed, Bath and Beyond BBBY are also facing investigation. And, lest it appear that the government is unfairly targeting commercial and industrial groups, its worth noting that NASA, West Point, the U.S. Postal Service and dozens of other government-owned and administered facilities are also facing investigation by the NRC.
Found by Geoffry Houze.
While working in the utilities testing industry, testing a 20 megawatt generator, I was at the site for a safety briefing and orientation, 30 minutes of the 55 minute meeting was spent on the safe disposal of radio-active waste. At the end I said, “I didn’t realize you had a reactor here. I thought that you were powered by natural gas. Why all the radiation instruction?””We are. The exit signs glow in the dark.” I reply,”Well, if for some reason I find the need to start throwing away your signs, you have got a lot bigger problems that glow in the dark paint ending up in a land fill!”
If they are so dangerous, why are they still sold?
FYI – Tritium is used for “glow-in-the-dark” applications, such as safety signs and night sights on firearms.
So, are radical islamic terrorists with plans for dirty bombs responsible for this crackdown on a rather innocuous product?
First, they ruined home chemistry kits, then shampoo on airplanes, now this.
If there were sixty companies cited why did Walmart get singled out for the headline? (Not that I’m a Walmart fan. My wife won’t let me shop there.)
The signs use tritium that is radioactive. It is in the form of a gas inside the sealed glass tubes. If the tubes break, the gas escapes and dissipates quickly. There isn’t enough radioactivity to be a health problem and the energy of the radiation is very weak. It is no big deal, that is why they are used. However, the NRC bureaucratic red tape is pretty extensive and requires training and special conditions for routine inventory and disposal. I suppose if you had a barrel full of these things and crushed them with a crowbar, you could get a significant exposure, but still not enough to hurt you. The BS that would follow you after that would hurt more.
Retired HP