From PAUL LOVE
Recently our department obtained a Q-Ray electro-radioactive dry compress.
This item is a pad measuring 14 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches with electrical
wires throughout. You plug it into the mains, for heating. In addition,
this pad also contains that magic ingredient to cure all aches and pains,
radium.
Historical relics such as these are unearthed every now and then from
cellars and attics. Proper disposal is through the NRPB or Harwell. Each
disposal carries a shipping and handling charge. Who should pay for it?
Being good citizens we took the Q-Ray into our laboratories for contamination
checks and safe storage until correct disposal measures with Harwell were
complete. We did not contemplate that we would be charged £350 for
our goodwill gesture of handing over the device, plus all the telephone
calls associated with it.
Our attention was drawn to a recent article in a chemical journal entitled
‘Do-it-yourself radiotherapy – 1930s style’ which involved a local council
finding a Q-Ray in a council house they were clearing. It appears that the
council now has to bear the cost for disposal. Would it have been better
to dispose of it with the daily refuse, as I am sure must have happened
in the past? Likewise, future generations may eventually face the same situation
with respect to the safe disposal of the prolific numbers of smoke detectors
containing americium.
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Just how many other ‘do-it-yourself’ devices are scattered throughout
the country? Would a national awareness campaign bring many more items to
our attention? Should there be a radioactive antiques road show?
Paul Love Kent and Canterbury Hospital
