On Oct 17, 8:50, Sellam Ismail wrote:
> A while back we had a brief discussion about "clean steel". "Clean
steel"
> is supposedly steel that was smelted before the first atomic bomb tests,
> and therefore contains no radiation.
Not "none", just "less". There's always been some background radiation
from natural sources, and some of that finds its way into smelted metals
(all sorts, not just steel).
> Apparently, air since the first
> atomic bomb test is now filled with background radiation, and because so
> much air is used in the smelting process, a lot of the radiation gets
into
> modern steel making it unsuitable for some applications (such as medical
> test equipment where radioactive isotopes are used as part of the
> operation).
And other places where it's important to measure very small amounts of
radiation accurately.
> So what gives? Is there a government website somewhere that defines
> "clean steel"?
>
> I'm hoping that the steel is actually worth enough to make it a wash to
> have it removed. As it stands, the quote I have so far is that we have
> $25/ton worth of steel and $30/ton to salvage it.
I wouldn't get your hopes up. I know that some of the WW1 German Fleet
scuttled in Scapa Flow has been cut up to obtain clean steel -- I've been
there and seen the remains -- and I found a reference in the
sci.military.naval FAQ to the salvage of German U-boats, but as far as I
know, most of that sort of steel is/was wanted for large objects like some
of the devices used in research labs like CERN. I found another reference
about Fermilab seeking radiologically clean steel some time ago, but not
much else.
The FAQ points out that the U-boat salvage rights haven't been exercised
(and Scapa Flow hasn't been emptied either) so perhaps the demand is too
small. The steel can't be resmelted, and possibly not welded either, so if
it's to be used, I guess it would have to be of suitable size/thickness to
be mechanically cut and formed. Oh, and don't cut it with a torch if you
want to sell it as "clean"!
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Thu Oct 17 2002 - 14:05:01 BST