"Black Widow" rad instrument???

[scooter]

There was article in a newspaper ( I know, I know, "newspaper") [ link attached] that mentioned a "Black Widow" rad instrument.  Anybody know anything about this.  Bad reporting, misunderstanding, some of each???  Thank you!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/184962_hanford05.html

[Rennhack]

I did a google search, and nothing came up.

[tech@large]

0 to 500 rem/hour hand held dose rate instrument.  Same design as a CP (cutie pie) think museum peice from the 1950's.  I've used them, still do once in a while, but prefer not to need a 500 R/hr range on a non extendable instrument (arms length).

[SloGlo]

diz meater ain't fer da oldenpheeble.  yinz gotta bea phazt wit 500 are pare our ina yer phist! butt cha ain't gotta bea az phazt az da tek wita pic 6!

[alphadude]

perhaps you are referring to the victoreen civil defense meter.

[usetobe]

"a technician began reading radiation levels beyond his instrument's detection range."


  HUH!!!?   Quoted from the newspaper article.  How did he do that?

[snowman]

The Black Widow is used at the Hanford site to measure alpha, beta, and photon radiations.  It's essentially a modified Eberline Cutie Pie (CP-3) that is used not for gamma detection as someone alluded to earlier in this thread, but for high alpha activity surveys up to 500,000,000 dpm. That's right...500 million. It's even got this neat little black widow spider on the side of the barrel that really freaks people out. Yeah, they're relics but they work.

[scooter]

Hey Snowman - How about a picture to bring this thread to closure???

[105KW]

There was article in a newspaper ( I know, I know, "newspaper") [ link attached] that mentioned a "Black Widow" rad instrument.  Anybody know anything about this.  Bad reporting, misunderstanding, some of each???  Thank you!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/184962_hanford05.html

BB – Bumble Bee
BBCP – Bumble Bee Cutie Pie
BW – Black Widow
BWCP – Black Widow Cutie Pie


The BW/BB CP responds to alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.  The instrument will respond to high energy beta radiation, such as 90Sr(Y), when the window is closed. 

The BW/BB CP=s response to low energy photons increases slightly at 40 keV and then drops off.  The BW/BB CP is usable (15% response) for photon energies greater than 12 keV for open window readings and 30 keV for closed window readings.  Measuring photon radiations with energies below these values is not recommended. With only the beta shield removed, the end window is too thick (7 mg/cm2) to admit alpha particles with energies less than 6 MeV.  The BW/BB CP has a second removable window which shields alpha.  With the alpha shield removed the BW/BB CP responds to alpha radiation. 

The Black Widow and The Bumble Bee are seperately configured instrutments at Hanford. The Black Widow is easily identified by it's color ( Black and Red with a large spider painted on the side ) and The bumble is usually the standard Eberline brown with bands of yellow tape around the barrel. Both of the instruments are variations of the Eberline RO-3b and are still available for use at Hanford.

Hope this helps
105KW Radcon

[darkmatter]

"a technician began reading radiation levels beyond his instrument's detection range."


  HUH!!!?   Quoted from the newspaper article.  How did he do that?

You mean you never had to report wheather it was a "hard peg" or a "soft peg"?
And if you catch it, you can see a GM saturate and then hover at a low reading.

[RAD-GHOST]

There is just something about doing a survey with an instrument called the Black Widow, that doesn't sound quite right!

RG

[raymcginnis]

Sound like one of those intruments sold to the farmers after TMI.  I remember them waving them in the air at their fenceline on TV back then, LOL!

[urtall1]

Yes, they are used at hanford, and even though we source check one daily, I've never seen it used.  But here at 222-S labs, we analyze the nastiest of things and have the potential to see alpha levels like that.  The tank waste that we analyze came from the atomic bomb and it is very nasty.  I had never seen some of this stuff before.

[Rennhack]

Attached are pictures of the Black Widow, Bumble Bee and the Cutie Pie