Today, everything is “digital” “Digital!” “Digital!” Emblazoned across every conceivable thing whether or not it has anything to do with anything. Hell, I bet someone out there is selling a “digital” hammer……if so, I should buy one…as the name suggests computer use…and today has been a day where it seems every single piece of modern technology around me has said “F-you” to me….maybe they all need a little “Percussive Maintenance.” Take that you ones and zeros! If you are reading this, the fact that it got published is a testament to my patience.
So while “digital” is the big fad today, this is was not always the case. Those old enough to remember will note that during the 80’s and 90’s, everything was “Turbo” and in the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s it was “Space” or “Astro”…….well, going back a bit further into the 1950’s, everything was “Atomic.” Everything. Right down to the mixer in the kitchen. We may not have had a great handle on the technology and its power, but we sure had the ad copy to sell all manner of stuff.
Which brings me to the atomic flashlight. Well, sort of. The idea is not new. Not even by 1950’s was it new. Obviously the sun and stars have had the nuclear lighting role covered for billions of years, but in terms of our existence, such a concept from a commercial standpoint dates to the 1920’s. Of course, back then…it was not “atomic” it was “radioactive” or “radium” so named after Marie Curie’s discoveries and work of the early 1900’s. Light switches, clock faces, and a variety of other items that needed to be self-illuminating were painted using a paint that contained a phosphor and radium. The radioactive decay particles would excite the phosphor and make it glow. A great idea. Well, sort of. The big failings being material choice and the methods of industrial hygiene of the period. Radium’s decay is fairly energetic and tended to degrade the phosphors used. As a result, you can still find many aircraft gauges, clocks, etc of the 1920’s through 1950’s period that no longer glow, but still emit strong levels of radiation. For the user of the products, this was not really an issue….unless of course you slept with the clock under your pillow or ate it. This brings us to the other big problem with the application of radium paint. During the 1920’s, a common practice in the watch and clock factories was to have the workers doing the painting of the numerals and markings to lick the paintbrushes across their lips in order to maintain a finer point to paint with. Doing this resulted in ingestion of radium. Many of these employees became gravely ill and suffered agonizing illness and death. This was a travesty that even basic common sense should have averted. Some of the cause could be chalked up to simply not knowing any better, and some to willful mismanagement of the materials and risks involved in their use. For what its worth, I would not lick a paintbrush that had nontoxic kindergartener watercolor paints on it. So the idea of licking any other kind of paint, especially a radioactive one, is simply preposterous. But I have the benefit of not having worked in a paint shop of the 1920’s and likely many of those who did so were simply unaware of the hazards.
Not surprisingly, words like “radium” and “radioactive” fell out of favor, even if some of the products continued in specialized applications and with better manufacturing safeguards for the employees.
Today, Tritium is the preferred material for such self illuminated devices. Tritium is a radioisotope of hydrogen, the nucleus of the atom containing one proton and two neutrons. Hydrogen-3. Hence the name, derived from the Greek “tritos” for “third.” Tritium is a low energy beta particle emitter and in addition to use as a tracer or as a neutron booster source for modern nuclear weapons, it has found a successful commercial use for the self-illuminating watches, compasses, etc.
For the illuminating applications, the gas is contained inside of a small glass tube with an internal phosphor coating. This is similar to a neon tube, except that the phosphor is excited by beta decay rather than gas ionization by electric current. As the decay takes place, the particles excite the phosphor, causing it to glow. And, since these are low energy emissions, the exposure risk is low. (but again, don’t try to eat it)Furthermore, the half-life of only 12.32 years with a decay product of non-radioactive helium-3 insures no long term hazard once the service life has expired.
One would think such a light source would be very popular. And it is, but mostly for specialized applications due to the cost and production constraints. The army has had compasses and watches with the tritium marker tubes for years, the watches have also been popular on the civilian market, as have gunsights. For a time, they were also common in “Exit” signs as the glow without external power is a valuable feature. Some can be found as tag type markers for survival gear….some like to market these as keychains, but at least in the US, this is frowned upon as being a frivolous use of an expensive to produce material and they are hard to come by.
And yes, a Tritium flashlight is actually made. It is not the bright, piercing beam that one thinks of in a flashlight, however. It is a very soft glow. Almost useless unless your eyes have become dark adapted. But, under that condition, you can read a map, find a socket, or do other similar tasks…all without ruining your night vision. Such an item lends itself to a variety of uses. (If you’ve ever worked in a photographic darkroom and dropped something you know how much you’d wish for just enough light to find the object but not so much as to spoil the film!) Saunders-Roe in the United Kingdom produces these for the military and other specialized applications. A look through their catalog of radioluminescent products is rather impressive….but the “Betalight Torch” is by far my favorite offering. I’ve had one or two of these over the years, they are hard to obtain here–in spite of having an NSN number….but, periodically you can get them. They contain an encased phosphor button glass envelope filled with about 1.9 curies of active tritium and are guaranteed to glow brightly for about 10-12 years. One of the ones I had still produced light well beyond this, although the levels diminished considerably after this period.
This one resides in my gear bag and while the practical usage is serious, it is still a fun object to a geek like me. It is, technically, a safe realization of the most 1950’s toy a kid could ever want: An “Atomic Flashlight.”
