One problem with radium paint and its emissions is that no one has any idea of the rate of decay of radioactive particles and two identical instruments could have been painted with the same brush from the same container on the production line and one will decompose quicker than the other. The harmful side of things comes from the amount of exposure to high levels of emissions, so sitting in the cockpit of old aircraft isn’t always going to be harmful, but depending on the amount of radiation being produced, prolonged exposure will have adverse affects. Having taken a Geiger counter to an instrument store, where the gauges were stored in a steel container and read high readings through the concrete walls on the outside of the buildings means that there are significant risks. Kind of alarmed me at the time!

Museums have been subject to this for years – East Fortune is a particular example; SEPA and NRPB officials visited the site on numerous occasions. Readings are taken from all instruments in cockpits and in store and other likely sources and a total amount of radiation based on the units collected – I can’t remember what these are – and this information goes on a database. Each year the amount is reviewed and if it has increased significantly, the museum is likely to face fines, this is usually because the museum has acquired instruments or other radioactive equipment without having it tested. This is all because it was decided that the public should not be deliberately exposed to this stuff through museum displays etc. A number of years ago the Science Museum was fined a very large sum of money as a result of exceeding its total output.