Isotope Lead?

[*Paladin*]

I've searched and searched and haven't found this answer. What process or industry does this isotope lead come from? Transport of radioactive material? To hospitals or other industry? Just curious...

[white eagle]

I do believe it comes ,at least some,from nuclear medicine
what they do with it I don't want to know

[2wheelDuke]

Yes, they use it to contain radioactive materials that are used in medicine. Those isotopes tend to have super short half lives, and the people selling it leave it to sit for a couple months to make sure any radioactive decay is complete, and that they don't register above background radiation levels before they melted down.

Muddy Creek Sam sells the isotope lead here. Lead is tough to come by in these parts, so having it mailed in is my best option.

[*Paladin*]

Thanks Eagle- I searched around the internet and figured thats what it was. My step-dad is an x-ray tech, so I was thinking about seeing if he could find me a source for lead, so when the WW's dry up I won't be high and dry.

[GP100man]

Paladin

Look at this & see if it answers any ??s

http://www.fellingfamily.net/isolead/index.html

[*Paladin*]

Great site GP! Thanks! That answered my questions!

[Dale53]

Thanks for the link to "Isotope Lead". That may come in handy in the future.

Dale53

[kawalekm]

Hi Steve
Yes, as said above, isotope lead is for the transport of radioactive materials through the mail for medicine and research. Typically it is rather pure lead that would be good for muzzleloading bullets and swaging. Here's a pic of what a typical small container looks like and how I used the lead to make jacketed bullets.

By the way, isotope containers will not be radioactive just because they are EXPOSED to radiation. They might possibly be contaminated if the contents somehow SPILLED into the lead pig, but generally the kinds of materials sent through the mail are short-lived isotopes like the P32 container I show here. P32 has a half-life of 14 days. I myself have several hundred pounds of these containers, because I got the radiation safety officer at my university to let me recycle all their idle containers.

[Texasflyboy]

One of the benefits of my current employment is that I work frequently with things that produce radiation, and as a result, I am always seeing lead everywhere I go.

Last April I was at one of the Army Research Labs (Part of the ARDEC system) and I was running a test on a few pieces of equipment in a room that once housed the largest EMP static discharge generator ever constructed (well, at least in the USA). The power output was Mega-Joules something or other and there were remants of the 1960's era testing all around this football field sized facility. One wall, about 200 feet long, had neatly stacked in rows of 2 lead bricks about the same size as a standard house brick. By my rough estimate there were 40,000 to 60,000 bricks in that wall. They were uniformly coated with dust from years of not being disturbed.

I as able to get two of the bricks as souvenirs and quickly turned them into wadcutters (.38 and .44).

If that particular facility ever gets a BRAC notice I plan on returning and asking for more souvenirs.

Isotope containers are so frequently encountered in my line of work it's hard not to ask everyone I meet what they do with them once they are finished. For several reasons, I am unable to entertain my lead curiosity, but sometimes it's like being a reformed alcoholic and getting a job in a ABC Liquor store. Look, but don't touch. Very annoying.

I wish I was a journal keeper because I keep finding sources of lead like that which are clearly remnants of the old Cold War programs in a lot of the facilities I tend to visit as a result of work. There is an awful lot of lead out there gathering dust that was once used as part of research revolving around Cold War programs.

And none of those experiences compare to the amount of lead I've seen at ORNL and LLNL. I am surprised that both places have not sunk to the bedrock level. There is a cask over at ORNL that defies accurate description but it would satisfy the needs of the entire board here for several years. I have no idea how it was transported, I can only assume it breaks down into several units and was built on site.

[GP100man]

Fellers I can`t take the credit , sql bullet shared it with me !!!!

[Rooster]

Ha! Flyboy, I've been eyeballin' an old scintillation counter at work for its lead shielding, so I can sort of relate. I bet I look like a vulture from Looney Tunes waiting for Bugs to kick the bucket.

Must....control......urges!!

[sqlbullet]

I will take the credit...It is my website.

The containers are used to transport and store various radioactive isotopes used in nuclear medicine. Primarily they are used for imaging, but some are for treatments.

The large 31.5 lb cores that Muddy Creek Sam sells on here are used to transport Moly-99. It is the parent isotope of Technetium-99m which is used for medical imaging. The entire aparatus includes the large core, a small green/grey two piece stopper, a tan painted lead bucket all in a large enclosure. Before being sold to the public, they are metered, stripped of plastic, and metered again. These cores are utilized to shield isotopes shipped from the Chalk River, Ontario reactor operated by the NRU. The reactor was offline for most of 2009-2010 for repairs and created a world wide shortage of imaging isotopes.

Besides the Moly-99 cores, various iodine and zenon isotopes account for the bulk of the isotope lead I have received lately.

I need to run the numbers again, but I think a rough guess would be about 15,000-20,000 lbs of lead in the last two years or so from isotope is what I have personally dealt with. Most of it has been cleaned up and resold to other casters here locally, both hobby and commercial. I keep a could thousand lbs on hand for my use.

[Aaron]

Sqlbullet,

Are the 21 ish pound cores made out of the same alloy as the 31 pounders? which ones are the 95-2.5-2.5 and which are 95-3.5-1.5? How about the heavy yellow cylinders that I have seen alot lately?

[sqlbullet]

The smaller cores I have encountered have been the same alloy as far as I can tell as the larger ones. Same for the 36 oz yellow cylinders I have seen.

The only lead I have encountered that was 95/2.5/2.5 was some sheet lead with two-sided tape on both sides. I don't know what it's purpose was.

[Aaron]

Thanks!

[NVScouter]

Be aware that not all isotope/shielding lead is the same.

I have about 10Klbs of it from my job sites.

Some from Radiation Therapy can feal/look like pure lead sheets. Actualy 97% tin with lead and zinc making up the rest. They use this for moulding.

The Nucmed shielding sheets are usualy pure lead as posted earlier. However many of them use large bricks, formed shields, and canisters. All of these that I have melted down are WW or harder alloys. Some canister made for repeated use are Linotype hardness.

X-ray shielding is also around WW hardness. Lead shielding is a thing of the past as lead rated alluminum is taking over.

Dental lead is soft as pure lead.

Great posting on the safety concerns side. Most folks dont understand radiation.

[NVScouter]

I will take the credit...It is my website.


These cores are utilized to shield isotopes shipped from the Chalk River, Ontario reactor operated by the NRU. The reactor was offline for most of 2009-2010 for repairs and created a world wide shortage of imaging isotopes.

This almost got the wife laid off, and the UK one went down too thanks to the FDA for a bit.

The USA doesnt have its own reactor to if an import gets cut the hospitals suffer. We want the treatments but not the reactor in our back yards.

[robertbank]

This almost got the wife laid off, and the UK one went down too thanks to the FDA for a bit.

The USA doesnt have its own reactor to if an import gets cut the hospitals suffer. We want the treatments but not the reactor in our back yards.

The Chalk River Nuclear facility is a throw back from WW11 when Canada played a part in what became the first Nuclear Bomb used on Japan. It is an old facility and many thought it would be closed by now. From NEWS reports I believe it and another reactor located god knows where are about the only reactors making these isotopes. Kinda crazy considering the need for the isotopes but I assume those in charge know what they are doing.

Take Care

Bob

[sqlbullet]

The beauty of Chalk River versus the other reactors supplying Moly-99/tech-99m is Chalk River is the only one left that ships in the 31.5 lb lead core. The rest use a depleted uranium core. They are re-used since they don't easily deform. Even if they weren't, DU doesn't help us casters much!

[Jailer]

A buddy of mine sent me a picture recently of a red container that he got from a family member that is in nuclear medicine. Looked just like the small blue vial only it was red. Any idea what the composition of that may be?