Worried Americans Buy Radiation Detectors
June 4 -- It looks like we're past gas masks and Cipro, and on to gamma ray detectors and potassium iodide tablets.
With nightmares of nuclear terrorism running high, a California company is cashing in on the promise of some protection in the event of an attack or accident.
The company, Homeland Protection, says it has been flooded with interest since it began advertising its Raditect radiation detector on television last week.
"With the recent increase in terrorism you and your family are at more risk than ever. The nuclear power plant near you may be the next terrorist target!" the company says on its Web site, which features links to numerous articles on the possibility of nuclear terrorism. "Defend yourself and your loved ones from the dangers of radiation."
The $149 device claims to measure gamma radiation, the potentially deadly high-energy radiation released in a nuclear explosion.
"If harmful levels of gamma radiation enter your home, Raditect will ensure you and your family are given immediate warning so you can evacuate quickly," the company promises.
"It's like a smoke detector but for radiation," said Jake Thompson, the company's chief technologist.
The device is just one of many gamma radiation detectors for sale on Internet. Some sites offer assemble-your-own kits; others sell military surplus gear.
Nuclear accidents or attacks can present other dangers, such as radioactive alpha and beta particles, but gamma radiation is particularly worrisome because it can travel significant distances and penetrate walls and other surfaces.
Would It Really Help?
Terror experts agree the Raditect could alert users to the presence of dangerous radiation, but they caution it might well offer little real benefit in most of the scenarios that experts have warned of.
The most likely of a number of unlikely atomic attacks on America would be a so-called dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives to scatter radioactive material. But those probably present little immediate danger, said Will Happer, a physicist at Princeton University and president of the Science & Technology for Countering Terrorism project's panel on nuclear and radiological issues. Such an attack might well set off the Raditect, but the radiation would not be an immediate threat.
