How to build a homemade radioactivity detector

Nuclear power plants are a major source of pollution as they produce radioactive waste which is very dangerous for all life. The recent events in Japan have made the whole world think about the risk of these plants. In addition, many people are afraid to buy products from the Asian territory because of the possibility of contamination.

A few days ago, American scientists explained a system by which we can analyse the radiation levels of our food with relatively inexpensive materials:

– Camera.

– Plastic scintillator (converts radiation into light).

– Aluminium foil.

– Black insulating tape.

As you can see, some of the necessary items are not so cheap, but if we compare them with the price of a radiation detector, it will certainly be more cost-effective to do it at home.

The experiment is based on capture radiation by scintillator and transform it into light so that it can be captured through the camera. If we perform a test we will get one of the following two results:

The first result tells us that the product in question has little ambient radiation, while the second tells us the opposite. Normally, when we take a radiation capture of a food that does not pose a risk, we can observe that there is a lot of light.

Finally, in the following video you will find the process to follow to make your own radiation detector:

Translation at OverStream

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