This was in todays ‘Herald’ (a broadsheet newspaper based in Glasgow) http://www.theherald.co.uk/
Battle of Britain’s radioactive waste for museum Spitfires and Messerschmitts
BRIAN DONNELLY
THE National Museums of Scotland could be landed with an “enormous” bill because of its collection of second world war aircraft, and their radioactive elements.
Many contain dials made luminous with a radium coating.
The government is in the process of determining how best to dispose of Britain’s growing stockpile of contaminated waste.
However, the NMS claims it is essential that specific funding is made available to deal with the items it holds or the cost of their disposal will mean its other services will suffer.
It has called on the Scottish Executive to ring fence money to pay for the disposal of radioactive sources which have been donated, often anonymously.
Most of the radioactive sources the NMS holds are in aircraft at the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, East Lothian, where classics such as the Spitfire and Messerschmitt are kept. The NMS also has a number of old luminous pocketwatches containing radioactive materials.
Westminster last year instigated a consultation exercise through the devolved parliaments on safely managing the 10,000 tonnes of radioactive waste in the UK. The executive said last night it was considering those responses.
An independent body is being set up by the UK government to tackle the issue.
A spokesman for the museums said there was no risk to the public. “Half of the items affected are in closed cockpits which are not accessible to the public and the other half is in secure storage, again, not accessible to the public.”
Frances Yeo, a curator at the museums and the NMS radiation protection supervisor, said: “We have until fairly recently become unwitting guardians of large numbers of radioactive sources, particularly those related to aviation.
“As museums and heritage institutions it is our duty to care for these objects in our trust. Many, however, have no historic, research or display value because of their poor condition and high radioactivity. We are therefore facing the prospect of disposing of large numbers of radioactive sources at enormous expense.”
She said funding this “will undoubtedly come at the expense of other core museum services” and called for extra funding to cover the costs.
Nicholas Forder, chairman of the British Aviation Preservation Council, said the cost of disposal would depend on the material. “Disposing of radio-active material is an expensive and complicated business and it is incredibly difficult to be precise about what is going to be radioactive,” he said.
“Generally speaking, aircraft instruments before 1970, if they have luminous dials, are likely to have radioactive sources.”
He said he hoped legislation would be put in place to allow the continued safe storage and display of aircraft with radioactive sources.
The appointment of the independent body to review the options for managing radioactive waste is the second stage of the programme following consultation.
Stage three, expected around 2006, will be a public debate on how the independent body’s decision should be implemented, including disposal site selection. The final stage, implementation, will begin the following year.
-Oct 15th
By: ageorge - 18th October 2002 at 18:13
RE: radioactive instruments
Seems like another example of European Legislation gone mad , doe’s this mean that all of us who are old enough to have bought a glow in the dark Timex watch are going to die young ??? , yup I would prefer to see closed but intact cockpits rather than open ones with teir guts ripped out , the Meteor at East Fortune is excellent , with the steps right up her side mean that even kids can look in her – and even with the cockpit closed you can see all you need to , she looks as though she’s just taxied in and shutdown !! .
By: Merlin3945 - 18th October 2002 at 17:46
RE: radioactive instruments
We all know that the risk of contamination from these dials is very very very slight and is even less contamination than 1 visit to the dentist. The Museum of Fligh at East Fortune had made a study into the radioactive instruments and while I know they had experts in I dont think getting rid of the intruments was ever an option. Rather that they would stop public access to the cockpits and be more careful about placing instrument in public areas. I know that the closing of certain cockpits was a big big issue for one member of the public and ultimately thats why the chat room on the MoF site was taken of the site. I think I am correct in saying that this guy took his complaints to the top. So I would hazard a guess he had something to do with the current situation. I would rather see the cockpits closed rather that strip out all the guts of the machine. I would rather see a closed cockpit but still be able to look inside and see all the original guages.
Another case of being PC but this time from a Health and Safety aspect.
Doesnt everyone think that the pilots who flew these things should get compensation for flying these radioactive beasts. Surely it would have effected their health and what about all the erk’s who crawled about these mechanical animals to repair or strip them for disposal.
A lot more here than meets the eye.
Merlin
By: ageorge - 15th October 2002 at 20:50
RE: radioactive instruments
I noticed that the Meteor and other aircraft of the same era in the MoF are now sealed but I never thought this was the reason. Over the water , where the old Marconi factory was they had to a clean up as Marconi had been dumping Radium contaminated instrumentation and tools directly into the river Forth during the 50’s and 60’s , this had to be cleaned up before they were allowed to build houses on the site.
Alastair
By: Peter - 15th October 2002 at 14:58
RE: radioactive instruments
Why not dispose of the aircraft and guages like the govt does to all other waste…dump it in the ocean.
No seriously though If your collection or museum is a concern, have the panels or guages tested with a geiger counter or radiation tester. We did and the only thing that was a concern to the inspectors were some guages that had broken or missing glass in them. These were sealed and removed from storage to a safe place. All our panels in our Lancaster bomber and the Lancaster panels on display in the museum tested with such little amount of radium that you were more likely to get a bigger dose by getting your teeth exrayd.
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October 15, 2002 at 7:41 am