The Uranium Test Kit was manufactured, sometime in the early 1950s, by the
Menlo Research Laboratory of Menlo Park, California. The Uranium Tester,
the black plastic chamber with the projecting tube seen in the photo
above left, was an accessory that had to be purchased separately.
The manufacturer noted that a standard radiation detector (e.g., geiger
counter) cannot distinguish uranium from other sources of natural
radiation. The purpose of this kit is to provide a method to test ore samples
specifically for uranium.
The method involves heating a bead wire (see plastic vial in photo
above left) using the "super jet blow torch" (in the lower right
corner of the photo above left). The heated wire is dipped into the sodium
fluoride powder and then reheated so that a molten ball of NaF is formed
on the tip of the wire. This bead is brought in contact with the ore to be
tested and then reheated so that the molten bead is well mixed. After the
bead cools, its fluorescence is studied under UV light. The process is
then repeated using the lithium fluoride. If a lemon-yellow fluorescence
is seen with both beads, uranium is present.
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