Radium Containing Industrial Smoke Detector (1960s) Note: this is not in the ORAU Collection but is shown for informational purposes |
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Although not commonly encountered today, early smoke
detectors often used Ra-226 sources. In the example shown here, the
source (indicated with the red arrow) is in a chamber underneath the
label. Smoke detectors for commercial use typically contained 20 to 40
uCi of Ra-226. The first radium-containing detectors for home use
contained less than 0.1 uCi. Companies making these devices included
Pyrotronics, US Radium Corp (Ionotron). Another brand name was the F-3
Pyr-A-Larm.
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