I’m glad this topic has finally come up, I think many of us had been hoping it might go away.
It would appear the general opinion is that the risk from active instruments is so low as to be considered almost nil provided that the instruments are intact, especially for the short periods of time that most of us are exposed to them. I am fortunate in that I have free access to some heavyweight professionals in the radiation game, and tests on my own cockpit and collection of parts has only yielded one instrument (E2b) that could be considered active – and the radiation from that is so low it was declared ‘quite safe’.
I’m with Malcolm on this issue to a great extent, once again the nanny state is blindly forging ahead in a knee jerking frenzy. Why instruments in historic aircraft are not getting the same leeway that old clocks and watches have is beyond me. I had hoped that the BAPC might have fought our corner on that one, but that would require some action. However, the BAPC’s freely available document on radiation is worth reading and sets out sensible guidelines for radiation safety.
The HSE folks have a responsibility to keep the general public safe, if they get to enforcing a blanket ban on radioactive instruments regardless of radiation levels – then they could be hurting the historic aircraft movement – which is a bad thing. This has to be handled sensibly, something I seldom see HSE people do.
Radiation can be very dangerous, especially since you can’t see it, hear it, touch it or smell it – and chances are you won’t know you’ve been affected by it until long after the damage is done. Joe Average doesn’t understand radiation, imagine a newspaper headline “aircraft instruments found to be radioactive!”. This would cause general alarm and fear through ignorance and the role radiation has played in popular films and stories. Education is the key.
Sadly, I fear nothing will be done. Anything that registers a single click on a geiger counter will be banned.
True story: An odd job man who has carried his grandfathers pocket watch in his trouser pocket for 35 years asked to have it tested. The technician tested it and the conversation went…
tech: “Got any kids?”
odd-job: “yes, two”
tech: “want any more?”
odd-job: “no!”
tech: “Just as well.. this things off the bloody scale!”
And that alarmingly radioactive watch, kept next to his ‘family jewels’ for at least 8 hours per day for 35 years – is LEGAL.
Now show me the common sense.
Roy.
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