Radiation Detection Video

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By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2007-04-12, Reading time: Less than 1 minute

Here’s a video of some radiation detection that we made. Basically, we use a high-purity germanium gamma detector to see the spectrum of gamma-radiation from various sources. Then, we take the sources over to a Geiger-Mueller survey meter to get counts/minute readings. Alpha and beta radiation can be detected by the GM meter. We detect radiation from A Cobalt-60 check source, salt substitute, a Thorium lantern mantle, Uranium mineral, a smoke detector, and an old fiesta-ware plate.

Special thanks to Chris Rycroft for narrating this for us.

❮ Radiation Page

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About Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E.

Nick Touran is a nuclear engineer with expertise in advanced nuclear reactor design, reactor development, and the history of nuclear power. After getting a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, he spent 15 years at TerraPower in Seattle working on core design, business development, software development, and configuration management. He is now a consultant involved in advising and assisting numerous reactor development and deployment efforts. He is also a licensed professional engineer in Nuclear Engineering.

Nick has been active in public education around nuclear since 2006 as the founder of whatisnuclear.com. He has spoken at numerous institutions, schools, and public events, and was once featured on NPR’s Science Friday. Recently, he has coordinated the digitization of over 45 historical nuclear films.