Uranium 238

[xxRAMMSTEINxFANxx]

So you won't grow another arm?? Damn..

[forwardbias]

I held 10 grams of Uranium-238 in my hand, most of the radiation cant even penetrate the dead layer of skin. The chemical toxicity is a far greater concern, as its a heavy metal like Lead. Uranium is actually used as radiation shielding, as its denser than lead. Its used to shield against far more dangerous materials like Radium-226, which is about a million times more radioactive than Uranium. The shorter the half life, the more intense the radiation. U-238 has a half life of 4 billion years.

[KarbineKyle]

@JeremyBechen Nice to see your video again! I stumble across videos I've seen before, but I still enjoy them. Reminds me of what I do. I love to experiment with radioactive materials. I'm getting another bottle from UN, but this has only >3g of U-238. It's more expensive and harder to find, and sells out as soon as they get it. I'm curious as to where to find a sample of Th-232 metal and how to get a Pu isotope (Pu-238 is the one I'd like). I can't afford it now, but how good is the Gamma Scout?

[SteamMonkey115]

Ah, tick-tick-tock...is that the sound of a Geiger counter or my lifespan counting down? It's both!

[sincityfire]

why do I hear piano music in the background?!

[MrGamersworld1]

Hey dude i need some of uranium 238 how much would you sell it for cos there ment to be world war 3 in october 21 2012 reply as soon as possible please

[magicstix0r]

I'm surprised you got as much of a difference between the alpha and alpha-blocking modes on your detector. The bag that the U238 is in should block most of the alpha particles.

[JTfromSTL]

OMG.. your fingers are going to fall off you dubmass!!! :p

[o0oD4n1so0o]

Can u build a nu-clear bomb with that and a proton accelerator?

[MillyVanillification]

Just avoid this stuff and don't belive what the organisation say about radiation and its impact. It's not fully understood and Uranium is by the way a very good gamma ray absorber (500,000 times better than water). So if you get a particle of this man-made extract into your body it will help natural radiation to harm you. People think that things are only dangerous if they kill you immediately :) This radiation is toasting your brains cells as well.

[Fourteen88SoCal]

strap that whole bag to your cock.....you might be able to create a new species of human!

[FoxxNightingale]

@Fourteen88SoCal D: well that just sounds like a terrible idea

[Fourteen88SoCal]

@FoxxNightingale lol i'm jk

[Banjokazooie42]

@Fourteen88SoCal well when ur doing a girl XD then ur baby will... lets just say is "different"

[Fourteen88SoCal]

@Banjokazooie42 lol

[revhard05]

i usually get about 5mrem/hr on contact will du

[EightySievertsStrong]

Please check out my page if your interested in this video great video by the way!!!

[thepeach12345]

Thanks for the help! I actually found out about gammascout later that nite and purchased one last week and waitin for it! Thanks for the help, I hope OT comes in soon

[thepeach12345]

Where do I buy one of these units? How much are they? What do I search under google to find them to buy them?

[JeremyBechen]

@thepeach12345 It's called a "GammaScout" survey meter, you can just google "GammaScout" to get their webpage. The unit costs around $450 and you can order it from their website.

[cassiavc]

It is a good alpha and beta emitter, but not that good on gamma emissions. Cool, I guess! At 0:27 were you measuring what? uSv/h? How much did you get? Is that like 5000uSv/h? If it is so, it is probably close to a rem, which would be a little bit dangerous i think.

[JeremyBechen]

@cassiavc Around 0:27 I'm measuring in millrem/h, so it's not nearly close to a rem. ;P But, of course, I wouldn't be apt to stick around 1 rem/h of radiation. You wouldn't have any ill-effects such as acute radiation sickness from a dose that low, but it'd be a good way to get cancer.

[cassiavc]

@JeremyBechen Wait...But...five thousand milirem? That is like "I wanna die". Is it really five thousand milirem? I am just little bit confused about the dot and the comma.

[JeremyBechen]

Oh, no, it's 5.39 millirem. As in .00539 rem. Dosage from this Uranium sample is pretty low, since almost all of the alpha emissions are blocked by its packaging.

[vmelkon]

Nice. I had not seen the CDV-700 on 100x operation before. :)

[KoolKidKarl2k8]

Shame United nuclear are out of stock on Uranium :'(

[Bryan6446]

How long is it going to stay pure lol....

[cassiavc]

Why can't you open it?

[AndrewDJWales]

And your point is...I've assumed there's a point

If you put the same instrument in against a tube TV (CRT) it would make the same noise

[MsElectromagnetic]

Gamma rays and neutrons CAN be slowed down or stopped by plastic-but it has to be polyethylene or some other plastic with a lot of hydrogen in it. I was wondering where you got that cool little counter...great to see alpha, beta, and gamma detected in a tough, small device. I see you also have an old CD meter - got to watch out for aging related calibration loss on those.

Have you seen the "Nukalert" keychain monitor? There is also a "Gamma Master" watch type monitor - cool nerdly stuff.

[MsElectromagnetic]

Gamma rays and neutrons CAN be slowed down or stopped by plastic-but it has to be polyethylene or some other plastic with a lot of hydrogen in it. I was wondering where you got that cool little counter...great to see alpha, beta, and gamma detected in a tough, small device. I see you also have an old CD meter - got to watch out for aging related calibration loss on those.

Have you seen the "Nukalert" keychain monitor? There is also a "Gamma Master" watch type monitor - cool nerdly stuff.

[Randomalities]

one comment i would like to make is i was always taught that gamma rays can be stopped by a few cm of lead. or feet of concrete. i dont believe plastic would do the job as it is made out of hydrocarbons. just seems a little dangerous. or by heavy metal do you mean that the plastic is lined with lead? just wondering?

[JeremyBechen]

@Randomalities You are correct. Gamma Rays are stopped by a few cm of lead, or something of similar density, or a high quanity of something less dense like concrete. The plastic does not stop the gamma (or beta) rays, which is why I'm able to get a reading on the Geiger counter.

When I wrote my comment which said, "thick plastic vacuum packaging can appear to be an openly exposed heavy metal", I was referring to the Uranium metal inside it which is chemically classified as a heavy metal.

[VBH8888]

@Randomalities depends on the strength of the gamma rays. If there stronger they can go through a foot of lead depends on strenght.

[A3R0SPACE054]

@Randomalities Well you could put hydrogen instead of argon. But that would not be a good idea, but it would stop(or impede the gamma rays), :)

[mattx12345678]

is it true that a small lump of depleted uranium weighs nearly a ton?

[JeremyBechen]

@mattx12345678 While depleted uranium is pretty heavy (heavier than lead, actually), a 3"x3"x3" cube of depleted uranium would weigh around 18 pounds. Heavy, but not nearly a ton.

[mattx12345678]

@JeremyBechen thank you :D

[tufnaman]

is it not that if you are civilian you can not have geiger counter or ?

[JeremyBechen]

@tufnaman Civilians in USA have no restrictions on Geiger counter possession.

[ThinkingBetter]

@tufnaman Everyone should own one. It can help detect dangers in your environment and is essential in case of a nuclear terror attack. A few weeks ago a finding was done in Berlin of a fairly powerful Cesium 137 piece in the road in a populated area causing 200,000 times normal background radiation near the ground level (sit there for an hour and...no more babies). That Cesium 137 was hiding in the ground for more than 20 years until someone detected it...is your environment safe?

[tufnaman]

@ThinkingBetter well no, my environment is safe because in my country we dont have uranium because of the moratorium on nuclear power generating and radiation is strongly monitored

[ThinkingBetter]

@tufnaman Uranium is just one of many sources of radiation. Hospitals, universities and companies everywhere use radioactive materials. Even some gem stones are highly radioactive.

[MegaGammaman]

@tufnaman "well no, my environment is safe because in my country we dont have uranium because of the moratorium on nuclear power generating and radiation is strongly monitored"

Well thats not correct. Uranium, Thorium, and Potasium isotopes are found everywhere on the planet. They are part of the natural order of things. As far as gamma and neutrons being stopped by plastic is partly correct. neutrons are stopped by interacting with hydrogen nuclii.

[tufnaman]

@MegaGammaman well i meant pure uranium, but again what you say is also true :)

[gmlviper]

Try jerking off with that hand, see if your dick will fall!

Oh, wait! That's a natural ore with long half-life... oh well....

[manoke254]

cancer

[iVoltTV]

I love it how these kids are like, "Hey look at me! I'm so cool! I'm making a video about a deadly radioactive metal and I'm HOLDING IT WITH BARE HANDS!" Yes, because that is SO safe.

[JeremyBechen]

@iVoltTV Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were an authority on radiation safety. To the untrained eye, multi-layered thick plastic vacuum packaging can appear to be an openly exposed heavy metal.

I'm not holding it with my bare hands, you idiot.

[minerofblood]

@iVoltTV Learn some nuclear physics, my friend.

[amourdutigre]

@iVoltTV

You are an idiot.

[valdezmiguel2]

stick it down your dickholes.

[phattymickpatty]

ya know you really have to be stupid to acually touch uranium wether its in a pouch or not or if its 235 or 238

[sempreterrone]

dove hai trovato l'uranio?

[iVoltTV]

Lmao, are you an idiot or something? "HERE LET ME HOLD MY HAND UP TO THIS REALLY RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL WITH NO PROTECTION!" -.-

[julsmul]

ive got a question. how high would 2000-6000 cpm rate on a geiger counter like that one? Is it high? I don't really know and my friend has this uranium rock and he says it has that much and I would really appreciate it if someone could give me some answers on how radiation works. thanks.

[riotpoliec]

whats the normal counts per minute for background radiation

[pyromaniak97]

@riotpoliec Normal background radiation in the US is around 20 C/M. It is probably higher around the old nuclear bomb test sites, though.

[eLpeach]

Wiuld it be posible to harness the gamma rays coming out that are emiting from this to try to covert it to energy to power a motor?

[sabel1]

wow this was 5grams?... the US dumped 350tonnes of it in irak during the FIRST Gulf war... now since 2003 theres prolly a LOT more...

[sabel1]

so this is the shit that america is using in the civilian cities of Irak, somalia and afghanistan...? well thats really clever

[Roach1983]

Google "natural nuclear fission reactors", there is tons of this stuff in the ground everywhere. You will even get this much radiation from a long flight too. Hell, they even made dishes out of Uranium. Ever hear of Uranium glass/ceramic?

Your salt... camping lamps.. the dye they give you for an MRI.... lol Dont ever buy a geiger counter if you are worried about radiation.

[ICEInterphace]

is it smart to hold that stuff :S neather the less its radio aktive isnt like danger to health.... ?

[iaswerqtyu]

@ICEInterphace YOU are a danger to my health lol jk

[KarbineKyle]

5/5! Nice! I like your Gamma Scout! I have a Terra-P, but it works pretty well too! You also have the same thing I have, 5 grams of U-238 Metal from United Nuclear! It's sealed under an inert Argon gas pouch to keep it from quickly oxidizing in air. That's Awesome! The bottle is big, but the sample is very small, about the size of a dime, only chunks. It's very dense too. It's not as radioactive as Radium for example, but it is quite safe to handle. LOL, a lot of people I know are scared of it!

[TheNoodlyAppendage]

no, U-238 cannot be converted to U-235, it can however be converted to Pu-239, but you need a sizable amount of U-235 or Pu-239 to begin with to convert it. The fact is U-238 is more valuable as a fuel source than U-235. This is one of the reasons the Iranians don't want the U.S> refining their uranium, because they wanted to take all the uranium, and just return the U-235.

[goddesslush]

Could this be converted to 235? In for example large amounts? out of curiosity. Strictly Curiosity of course..

[theappleexpress]

hey so radioactive material doesnt look a certain way its called ratioactive material by the waves it gives off could someone answer my question

[ketan9728]

what value does the meter in your hand show??? what is CPM???

[TurkishWarrior80]

I think who made this video is either dead or suffered multiple cancers.Are you daft ?

How can touch a thing such radioactive.

[JeremyBechen]

In the grand scheme of things, because of its rather long half-life (4.5 billion years), Uranium-238 is not actually a particularly radioactive nuclide, and the greater majority of the radiation it emits is stopped by the plastic packaging, and another majority is stopped by about a half-inch of flesh. The rest permeates the body, but in such a short exposure as this, the effect is, practically, null.

Suffice to say, I am neither dead nor suffering any cancers.

[matkovicha]

@JeremyBechen Well said.

[TheNoodlyAppendage]

@TurkishWarrior80

As you notived, the sample is only emitting alpha and beta rays in any significant quantity. Alpha rays are just ionized helium, they wont even pass thorugh a sheet of paper or the first layer of yoru skin (the dead layer, so no cancer risk). Beta rays are just high speed electrons, they penetrate a littel further, but again, are a very low cancer risk. Gamma rays are a very serious cancer risk, but as you notice nearly none were being emitted.

[Ilovecupramen]

take it out

[JeremyBechen]

I've got a video laying around somewhere from when I did take it out. If I can find it I'll put it up.

[purklefluff]

.... huh.

for something that a lot of people consider to be "non-radioactive", that's pretty damn radioactive.

use of this metal in weapons is a crime. seriously. what a horrible fate to submit your enemy to.

[allhailstentor]

You think that because you have no comparison to actual radioactive substances.

U-238 has a halflife of 4.4E9 (that's 4.4 billion years). By comparison, H-3 (tritium) has a halflife of 12.3 years. Additionally, U-238 has an atomic mass of 238, and HTO (tritium water) has an atomic mass of 20.

Thus, for equal masses of HTO and U-238, the HTO is more radioactive by a factor of 4.4E9/12.3 * 238/20 = 4.2E9.

HTO is 4.2 BILLION times more radioactive than U-238.

[purklefluff]

good reply. thanks for clearing this up.

i actually have a geiger muller tube lying around, but never get to test it on anything, and my memory of levels of radioactivity from studying physics is... well... a bit degraded. haha.

still.... even though it's nowhere near as radioactive as something like HTO, there will be damage caused by having a fragment of this stuck inside you. enough to kill you? most likely not. health problems? yes.

[vmelkon]

@allhailstentor "HTO is 4.2 BILLION times more radioactive than U-238."

That might be true but the beta radiation emitted by tritium is quite weak. It can't even be detected by most geiger counters. The radiation can't even pass through 1 mm of plastic. The alpha and gamma of U238 will break molecules. If an alpha hits directly some other nucleus, it can fuse.

[churiken88]

you're crazy does not believe that this life-threatening can give me an explanation of what you want to show

[mstaff657]

what was the point of that vid?

[abhinayan27]

can any1 tell me if radioactivity can be used to cure cancer by killing the cancer cells???

[MrAntivirusxp]

and all the cells around it

[wowggscrub]

pure u-238 doesnt seem to produce much gamma.

[casmatt1]

thats because gamma rays are the strongest rays, but the hardest to produce

[JaksProductions]

does the normal most cheapest gamma scout have a ticker?

[skierplaterandy]

why are you holding it then?

[JeremyBechen]

short doses of relatively low radiation (seems stupid, but this is considered low) have little to no noticeable health effects other than a slight increase of cancer.

[skierplaterandy]

your bombardiong your cells with high energy rays, that seems to me like its not healthy

[JeremyBechen]

it's not healthy in the least. but that doesn't make it a catastrophic disaster.

as i have undoubtedly written on dozens of comments before, radiation damage is cumulative. therefore: the longer you're exposed, the more damage you'll be the victim of.

additionally, this form of uranium is (ironically) commonly used as a radiation shield due to its density and relatively low radioactivity.

[savannahhewson]

what is this video about and what are you doing? lol someone commented on the video i was watching (about an eye colour...-.-) and they said their eye changed into this gray colour because they looked into uranium 238 and i have no idea what it is but i got curious. And i want to know whats going on and what your doing and why lol :P

[JeremyBechen]

Uranium. It's radioactive. And I collect it. :P

[josh9399]

where do you get a digital geiger counter like that?

[happyseralstudent012]

Did you ever open the pouch or bottle yo take a look at your metal?

[JeremyBechen]

Yes, I did. I've got video from it, but I can't upload until my computer begins working again (it has a virus, and I'm using a computer at my local library :P).

[zdrastvutye]

alpha rays cannot penetrate paper or plastic???

[JeremyBechen]

For most alpha particles and most thicknesses of paper and plastic, you are correct.

Evidently *some* alpha particles are making it past the plastic bag there, but not very many!

[lol4lol10]

cane you just buy it O.O?!

[DURound]

People hear the word "radiation" and they get very nervous. I think that there is a kind of cultural memory of Eben Byers and people think if they get a teensy tiny bit of radiation, that their heads will rot off. I have been arguing against some of this silliness on a propaganda video called "Depleted Uranium (My Public Service Announcement )", where people think I am evil because I point out that they have little or no scientific evidence for their views.

[JeremyBechen]

Heh, I've seen that vid, and you're a bit of a crusader there, and I like it.

[DURound]

Well, its not like Depleted Uranium is completely harmless, but DiHydrogen Monoxide kills more people every week than DU kills in years and years.

[BugattiFan301]

I know. A bunch of stupid fucks who know nothing about uranium think that depleted uranium is so dangerous and bad. First of all U-238 is only very weakly radioactive, second of all U-238 is not fissile, and third, even U-235 must be at critical mass to detonate effectively.

[L3G3nD0001]

Congratulation, you have cancer =)

Enjoy Radiotherapy =)

[BugattiFan301]

Ooh we have a smart one here! Do you know what isotope this type of uranium is? Do you know what an isotope is? You would have to be collossally fucking ignorant to think that because he handled some DU he's going to get like "radiation poisoning". It'd be more dangerous to have a granite countertop in your house, because those contain loads of uranium (Actually U3O8), but nobody goes out and claims that granite causes cancer. Just get out of here you fucking reactionary.

[L3G3nD0001]

So.. What's your fucking problem?

how hard is it to shut the fuck up anyway?

Anyway, to the video, Congratulation, you have cancers

[viciokas1993]

U dont get canser from such a small ammount of radiation -.-

[L3G3nD0001]

Yes you can, if you get exposed by any radioactive materials for a long period of time...

[viciokas1993]

I cant say that 5 minutes is a long time...

[JeremyBechen]

Yes, you can get cancer from a small amount of radiation. However, it is extremely unlikely, even if you exposed yourself to this sample in this video for 12 hours.

Nonetheless, the longer you are exposed and/or the larger the dose you receive, the more likely you are to get cancer from it.

[L3G3nD0001]

That means 5 minute for about 2000 RADS can give you radiation posioning.

Side effect can occur for a long term effect, accumulating to passing down damage genetic cell from father to son. In other words, if you give birth to a baby, it's likely to have some birth defect.

[Pandddie]

Huuum.... you touch uranium like that, like it was gold or a block of steel.

Are you insane ??!! You'll get three eyes at your wake. And your son will get four arms. >>=(

[Darkgrammer]

My God!! You have no idea how this stuff works do you...?

This is safer than your computer monitor, lets put it that way. ;)

[JeremyBechen]

Radiation will have no noticeable effects in an acute exposure like this until the levels of the radiation begin to reach around 50 REM (around 10,000 times the levels of this sample).

I have not allowed myself chronic exposure, but the worst what little exposure I have would ever do would be cancer, likely somewhere in hands or arms, or in a worst case scenario, leukemia.

BTW I keep my "danger zone" very much shielded from these things, just in case :P

[hygocan]

If you could get four arms and three eyes by touching this I would buy ton of this stuff lol

[JeremyBechen]

lol Same here. :P

[Darkgrammer]

I have doped marbles and ore under plexiglass shielded with thin lead plates on all sides except the top and the front viewing part. I've also managed to put a black light above the display.

Nonetheless it's in my garage so even being in the garage is safe let alone my house. Also my Geiger broke. :( Need a new one, where did you get yours.

[vyintl]

oh yeah this comment is comical, "acts like a 4 year old kid" me be guessing this guy is same age as me? (cough 4 years old cough) lol. =D

[soylentgreenb]

"Huuum.... you touch uranium like that, like it was gold or a block of steel.

Are you insane ??!!"

You moron. Uranium is about as toxic as a lump of lead.

[soylentgreenb]

And by the way. Your average piece of the Earth's crust contains 3 grams of uranium per tonne and 10 grams of thorium. Granite and phosphate rocks routinely contain tens of times more than this.

The phosphate fertilizer used to grow the food you eat comes from phospate rock and contains quite a bit of uranium as a result.

[passycot]

silly boy.

[sodia1]

dude you are toching urenum without gloves your gonna get skin cancer :O

[Napalmdeath420]

not very smart. lets check back on your health in the next couple years.

[JeremyBechen]

Looks as though you've done your research... based solely on anti-DU propaganda designed to stop NATO from using Depleted Uranium munitions.

Notice the hermetic seal on the vacuum pouch that this sample is stored in. This prevents particulate Uranium from contaminating my labspace.

You might also be pointing towards the dangers of ionizing radiation. The first noticeable health effects of acute radiation exposure occur at 100 rem/hr, approximately 20,000 times the radiation occuring here.

[numbermoney]

Would you mind living in an area where DU munitions had been used? Where the DU had atomized on impact and was blowing around in the wind? You'd not mind having a few DU fragments in your lungs or on the food you ate?

[viciokas1993]

WOW, you rly are smart arent u? Deplated uranium in a bullet wouldnt blow up like a nuclear bomb. 1. There is an extremely small quantity of it 2. To reach a critical mass even on the specifically enriched uranium you nead tons and tons of energy, which will never be provided by the energy of a bullet impact...

[L3G3nD0001]

This Uranium doesn't have the isostope to make a weapon grade uranium. But it does have some unimaginable effect if this was stuck inside a human if it was taken from a bullet..

[JeremyBechen]

@ L3G3nD0001

You are very correct. Having a piece of metal like this lodged in you (eg, bullet, fragment/shrapnel, etc.) would result in constant chronic irradiation.

This often leads to cancer, and in younger subjects, whose rapidly dividing cells are markedly more susceptible to DNA mutation than older subjects, the threat is increased.

This is why we often see birth defects and childhood disorders resultant of improper usage of Depleted Uranium.

[kriegkatse]

@JeremyBechen yes and no, uranium is also a heavy metal and is actually much worse for you in terms of toxicity than radioactivity in its depleted state, neither are good for you of course, but radiation levels are really farely low, this video makes them seem higher than they really are if its really depleted, they actually use depleted uranium metal as radiation shields sometimes because its high density. proper depleted uranium today is less than .2% of the radioactive isotope

[kriegkatse]

@L3G3nD0001 actually, just as an interesting piece of trivia, depleted uranium is actually used in high level radiation shields because of its density

[cjisme3]

viciokas1993

shhh dont let the idiots know that stuff :S

[viciokas1993]

LOL

[CxC2007]

I dont understand for what did you bought it??

Do you need it for something?

[JeremyBechen]

I am a collector of radioactive objects. That is why I bought it.

[KarbineKyle]

LOL... I have the same thing, The 5 gram U-238 sample from United Nuclear!

[kaius3]

Okay thanks for the reply im studying radiation at the moment

[kaius3]

Isnt it dangerous to hold a piece of radioactive substance in your hand like that???

[JeremyBechen]

In a sense, yes. However, radiation exposure is cumulative, meaning it will add up over the time you are exposed.

This particular sample, despite it's media-driven and historical-driven fame, is not as active as some of my other objects, and there are certainly some objects which I do not have that are much more active.

By limiting the exposure, the danger is cut down exponentially. Any exposure runs the risk for cancer, but a longer cumulative exposure holds a much, MUCH higher risk.

[forrest225]

Yeah, my grandad worked at a place where they enriched uranium before they new about all the hazards of radio activity. It eventually caught up with him and he died of cancer. :( Now that I think about it, it is very possible that my mom was exposed to radiation as a child. Hopefully not enough to greatly increase her chances of getting cancer.

[hygocan]

Knew not new

[forrest225]

Sorry, I normally don't make mistakes like that. I made that comment while extremely drowsy.

[hygocan]

Being grammar nazi anyway

[JeremyBechen]

I thought I was the only one who considered themself a grammar nazi. :D

[OmnicideX]

Not planning on having any kids i take it?

[fenderic]

LOL they sell this shit?

[cjirowetz]

Bit of trivia for you: United Nuclear is owned by the famous (or infamous) Robert Lazar who claimed to have reverse engineered alien spacecraft at the S-4 section of Area 51.

[HazeGreyAndUnderway]

ahahahahahaha! I dont know why, but this makes me laugh...maybe its the background music...idk, but the music and the Geiger ticks just suggest insanity or something, ahahahaha.

[polonium9]

wow i got more radioactivity on X100 with my Ra 226 clock face SO WOULD YOU RECCOMEND THIS FOR A NERD LIKE ME or should i get the uranium ore PLEASE WRITE BACK

[JeremyBechen]

Well, the Uranium metal is, potentially, quite dangerous, so I'd only recommend that if you never opened it and did anything retarded with it. :D

The ore, depending on what ore they have in stock at United Nuclear, might be a better idea. I have two "Medium Radiation Level" ores. As of TODAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2008, United Nuclear has "High Radiation Level Ores" in stock.

The ore would have more beta and gamma radiation, but the metal has, mostly, alpha radiation.

[MrIzo56]

Mr. Jeremy, may i ask how much did you pay for it, and what will you do with

[MrIzo56]

it?

[JeremyBechen]

I paid $30 for the Uranium metal, and I don't plan to do much with it, because I'm not ready to open the "pouch" of Argon it is sealed under.

[AScannerClearly]

Wow... I would've expected much less activity considering the long half-life of U-238 and how all of the daughter elements have been removed. I'm very impressed with that.

[atomic7732]

Where do you get that type of Gieger? (The first one)

[jsaulgodoy]

what would happen if u opened the bag and hold it in ur hand? would u feel super pain or nothing

[JeremyBechen]

If I had opened the little vacuum pouch and held the sample in my hand, nothing would have happened. There is not enough radiation being emitted by the metal to cause me immediate harm from being near it.

Of course, I might get some dust particles from the Uranium on my hand, and if I didn't get them off, they'd stay there and irradiate my hand. But I wouldn't feel that either. I'd end up, more than likely, gettitng skin cancer.

In short, you can't feel radiation at all.

[rankpuller]

hmmmmm so um if i was to maybe order this uranium well im stupid and i wont remeber to open the packet so what would happen?

[JeremyBechen]

If one were to open the packet, not much noticeable would happen. Of course, microscopic particles of radioactive Uranium dust would begin floating around your general area. You may, or you may not, inhale some of those particles. It's generally considered unhealthy to inhale radioactive things.

If you were to leave the vacuum pouch intact, the only thing that would happen is the escape of beta and gamma radiation (alpha is blocked) at nonlethal levels (but still carcinogenic in quantity).

[DecommMan]

Very good.

[lawrence123mus]

lol maybe i am stupid but isn't having depleted uranium in your house and handling it like that very dangerous. Also i though it was PU239 that was the most unstable.

[JeremyBechen]

Of course it is EXTREMELY dangerous to handle Uranium of this form. Fortunately for me, United Nuclear (where I bought it from) has packaged it in a completely-sealed pouch of Argon (to prevent further tarnishing).

Pu239 is more unstable than Uranium-238 (most of 'Depleted Uranium'), but there are, of course, more unstable nuclides, such as Polonium-210, or some of the more exotic newer ones, like Ununquadium-286, or Ununoctium-294.

BTW, If I had Pu-239, I'd have an unexpected visit. LOL

[sciencoking]

what is the first unit?

[ap327145]

so you got those from United Nuclear the site that looks like it hasnt been updated since the 90's?...i couldent find any DU on there do they just have different stuff whenever they get it? i saw polonium and cobalt 60 which is pretty cool but they were in those little plastic disks, is that how your DU came? provide a link to the DU if you can that was all you had right

[chao129]

its on the page with chemicals and metals

[nitrex]

If you have enough Uranium metals, you don't me buying some ?

[JeremyBechen]

Unfortunately this sample is all of the Uranium metal I have. I think I have seen a comment from you in response to someone else somewhere on YouTube saying that getting a 'buffer' in the US to ship a product from the well-known US-only *United Nuclear* is not a problem. I have only < 5 grams of Uranium metals, and so I cannot afford to part with any of it. I don't know where else you could obtain a sample.

(picture at :22 is 9x the uranium I have)

I am sorry if this has not helped.

[nitrex]

Well i already have 2g of Uranium that i got from a friend, but the thing is i wanted to purchase more, of course United Nuclear only ships to those in the US. So i am thinking of sending money to someone in the US and they buy the product off United Nuclear.