NUCOR CS-40A Ion Chamber (ca. 1960 - 70)

In the 1960s, a health physicist had three major choices for an ion chamber:  the Cutie Pie, the Juno, and the CS-40A (manufactured by the Nuclear Corporation of America in Denville New Jersey , also known as NUCOR).  Perhaps as a marketing gimmick, NUCOR referred to the CS-40A as a “Cutie Pie” despite its lack of resemblance to that popular instrument – while the CS-40A had a cylindrical chamber mounted on the front, it had no pistol grip. The earliest references I have found for the Model CS-40 and CS-40A were advertisements in the May 1959 (p.201) and February 1961 (p.30) issues respectively of the journal Nucleonics.  The blueprints in the CS-40A operating instructions we have on file have an approval date of May 1961.

With the exception of the electrometer tube, the CS-40A was entirely transistorized and therefore very light.  The aluminum case is 10" x 4.5" x 4.75" in size. It has five ranges: 0 - 5, 0 - 50, 0 - 500 0 - 5,000 and 0 - 50,000 mR/hr. The chamber is air-filled and open to the atmosphere.

CS-40As donated by Brookhaven National Laboratory courtesy of Joe Balsamo, and the North Carolina Division of Radiation Protection courtesy of Johnny James

References

Instruction Manual NUCOR Survey Meter, Model CS-40A, no date.

Advertisements: Nucleonics May 1959 p. 201; Nucleonics February 1961 p. 30. General ad some pictures Nucleonics November 1956 p 25

Museum Directory              Survey Instruments