Nuclear Density Gauge Storage Solutions

[ghgeo]

Has anyone come up with "creative" storage solutions for a nuclear density gauge?

My company is planning on purchasing a density gauge, but I can not figure out were to store it. My office is located on the main street of a small town. In general, there are Business on the first floor on either side of us and residential apartments on the second floors. The ideal storage place would be in the Geotech Lab, located in the basement of an adjacent building. However, there is an apartment directly above this space and I believe the exposure limits would be too high for the occupants of the apartments.

A couple of ideas we've thought of is a lead-lined box (but where would you get this?) or building a storage shed in the parking lot (but would this be considered secure?). Any other suggestions ???

 

[Ron]

Let's assume first that you are located in the US. Your vernacular indicates such.

Most licensing jurisdictions require a 3-lock process. That usually requires locking the gauge (1), placing inside a locked room (2) and the locked room is inside a locked building (3).

As for exposure, the radiation emitted by a nuclear density gauge is relatively weak and emits relatively short wavelength radiation. In general, the exposure in an apartment above the basement storage would not exceed (nor even come close to) exposure limits. The perception of such; however, would be a different issue.

If you want a lead-lined box, build one. Lead sheet is readily available in different thicknesses. I doubt you would need one though.

You should have a survey meter so that you can check radiation levels, both for peace of mind and to assure compliance with state regulatory authorities.