Tritium
From CPFWiki
Tritium is an isotope of Hydrogen which is typically designated H3. It is radioactive, but not in the sense most people think of (Gamma radiation); Tritium radioactive decay is via "Beta" radiation which are electrons (of low average energy, around 6 keV Tritium, thus it is completely safe if enclosed in a sealed container. Breaking open a container of tritium and breathing it in is, of course, a very different matter.
Tritium light sources can be best described as a strong glow. They have a clear advantage over conventional luminous light sources in that they do not need to be "charged up."
Tritium does not in itself emit light but excites phosphors, thereby generating light. It is therefore most often encountered in glass capsules with an internal phosphor coating. These inserts are used in gun sights, archery sights, self luminous exit signs, watches, compasses, and the Traser Glowring keychain. Due to U.S. regulations regarding radioactive substances, all of the above items can be legally sold in the U.S. except the glow rings. (Note: restrictions are on the sale and not necessarily on the possession)
The half life of tritium is 12.3 years which means that a tritium based light source will be half as bright after 12.3 years.
[edit] Legal issues
The "Tritium glow" is fascinating but will sometimes attract people that are not aware of various issues:
- tritium presents dangers to population - however small those dangers might be, some regulations have outlawed tritium for that. A small side not: reports will sometimes even assume that GTLS are non-leaking...
- tritium might have been banned in their countries
- tritium ought to be destroyed by specialists, rather than dump it somewhere: it's a matter of principle and responsability, even if quantities are negligible.
Those visitors might be quite young, we all know stories of kids burning their eyes with overpowered lasers.
Here is the status of the specific use of tritium by typical CPF visitors in various countries.
| Status | Countries |
|---|---|
| Allowed | "Asia", Australia |
| Forbidden | Belgium |
This table will obviously require refinement and cleanup and trigger many discussions... The core idea is to condense essential information here so that anyone considering buying tritium-containing artefacts can decide what it's worth buying such light sources (that are extremely weak, expensive, require care, and decay after several years).
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium_illumination#Legal_issues
A code of conduct could be proposed so that anyone selling tritium should at least include a link to this page. It is easy to hide behind "get your information yourself"; better is to avoid problems.
To do: incorporate this external page.
