Disk shaped radiation sources for education purposes made of chemical fertilizer

A method for fabricating a disk-shaped radiation source from material containing natural radioisotopes was developed. In this compression and formation method, a certain amount of powdered material is placed in a stainless steel formwork and compressed to form a solid disk. Using this method, educational radiation sources were fabricated using commercially available chemical fertilizers that naturally contain the radionuclide, 40K, which emits either beta or gamma rays, at each disintegration. The compression and formation method was evaluated by inspecting eleven radiation sources thus fabricated. Then the suitability of the fertilizer radiation source as an education aid was evaluated. The results showed that the method could be used to fabricate radiation sources without the need for learning special skills or techniques. It was also found that the potassium fertilizer radiation source could be used to demonstrate that the inverse-square law can be applied to the distance between the radiation source and detector, and that an exponential relationship can be seen between the shielding effectiveness and the total thickness of the shielding materials. It is concluded that a natural fertilizer radiation source is an appropriate aid for demonstrating the characteristics of radiation. (author)