My Yugo SKS is the type with the flip-up night sights, the Radium paint style. The front does not glow anymore, the phosphor is likely "burnt out" from the radiation, and the paint from the rear sight has been lost to the ravages of time. I know I can apply a layer of new phosphor to the front and it should be self-luminous again (Radium-226's half-life is 1600 years), but is there any safe way to transfer some of the front sight's Radium to the rear so that the rear will also self-iluminate?

I was thinking that it may be possible to turn a drill bit by hand, perhaps with a cutting fluid of some sort to prevent dust, and mix the resulting shavings into a phosphor-laden paint to fill in all three areas. Is there any reasonably safe way to do this, or do I have to accept that the rear sight must be charged with light to glow?