How and where to get best price for low background radiation lead?

I recently acquired 2199 pounds of low background radiation from some old lab equipment. I was told by two of the lab workers that I would be stupid to sell this locally as it is rare and worth far more than the going scrap yard prices. There is supposed to be a demand for it in testing equipment. Any suggestions? I scrap for a living, but have never had anything like this before and need the best price available. Thank you!



I have scrapped metals for years, but something tells me that this shouldn't be thrown in among the junk batteries and such. I called one company that manufactures testing equipment for labs. I could hear in her voice that she was VERY interested, but was trying not to show it. I am not (overly) greedy, but don't want to sell something for so many cents per pound when it may be worth dollars per pound. i do not have to get top dollar, but I also don't want to do something stupid.

Pics...

MTH Metalltechnik: low radiation lead

Perhaps this company can assist you. Mike

I'd be interested in buying it. Low alpha lead has two possibly three categories, the first and most common is lead with 25% or so of normal background radiation. This lead is valued around 2-3 times the price of scrap lead. Lead of this variety can be found in old lead shot from prewar anything...paper shotgun shells...ballast in prewar boston whalers...etc. It is not exactly good for instrumentation but very good for radio sets and noise cancellation...aka electronics. The next grade is medical grade, this is the lead you will find in CT machines, MRI...etc. Although the modern MRI is going to use mu-metal and other paramagnetics. beyond this, the extremely low radiation lead is used in test sets...such as in an XRF gun, you will also find it in a gas chromatograph (less than an ounce...unfortunately) and a few other emissions specific testing equipment, including dosimeters. IF you have lead from this last category...then yes it is worth at least 25/lb maybe more because it is increasingly rare.

Originally Posted by thebluegrasskid

I am struggling to add the photos.

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/smf-s...rum-video.html

IIRC, he'll need 10 posts to submit links or photos.

No, unfortunately xray machines are old school exposing a film to radiation through an aperture for x amount of time. The lead is not a factor. However I must caution you the xray machine itself depending on age and model may contain an isotope.

a lot of x ray machines also have heavymet in them too which has a good amount of tungsten in it. We just bought 11,000 lbs of it from xray machines a week ago

Sorry guys, was distracted for a few days.

Alright, the original GE shutter type aperture xray machines are the only ones I know of, they are the ones that MIGHT still exist in pieces in a hospital basement. They contain a cesium iodide coated xray tube. IT IS RADIOACTIVE. It is called an image intensifier, at the time of manufacture xray production was less than one tenth of one percent of input power...making xray imagery impossible for all but the most equipped hospitals. They would be manufactured on or before 1959...to my knowledge. exciter type...for lack of a better layman way are easily identified...they have a dedicated power supply and often this means a box with a transformer, caps...circuitry and the aperture would contain a device not unlike a magnetron...I am trying to find out what the exciter material is made out of. Also DaveCCT is totally correct...if it isnt lead it will be HM. It has to be, the aperture and the electronics package will BOTH be shielded. easy enough to figure out, HM is very hard and heavy, lead can be impressioned with a screwdriver. And MRI machine or CT will not have HM. Things that might...mammorgram xray machine...dental xray, older style table and aperture xray (the type where they place a film cartridge IN the table and you lay on the table while they set the aperture and focus). That would be about the limit of my knowledge. MRI will have mumetal, lead...LOTS of lead actually and probably is going to have all low alpha copper bearing material because of the fact it needs to be exceedingly accurate.

Bear in mind early xray tech is at the very outset of my knowledge and I understand only the engineering method not production! That said, it being 2016 at this point you could probably carry a cesium coated xray tube around in your car for the rest of your life without any ill effect.

I will buy low alpha but I myself have to shop it around and I'm not going to buy less than 1,000 lbs at a time, it isn't worth shipping two different directions to do so.