Tritium Lights: Radioactive Illumination

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Tritium is a heavy radioactive isotope of hydrogen which decays via beta radiation with a half-life of 12 years. When enclosed in a container lined with a suitable phosphor, it produces a weak but sustained light that can last for up to 20 years, which is used in various applications including emergency exit signs and gunsights. Tritium is also more easily fused than regular hydrogen, and has seen widespread application in both civilian fusion projects and nuclear weapons design.

[@233kosta]

It's worth noting (perhaps you have already?) that tritium is the purest known beta emitter. It spits out electrons (and antineutrinos), nothing else. That makes it very safe when contained correctly. Due to the low energy of the electrons tritium emits, the breaking radiation (bremsstrahlung) emitted by betalights is very low energy too (lower energy than your typical CRT, less intensity too). Radium, on the other hand, readily emits gamma rays. As do some of its decay products. That makes it a hazard to be around, regardless of whether one actually touches it. Not much of a hazard, but it's not completely harmless either.

[@niagarawarrior9623]

very informative, thanks.

[@MeriaDuck]

Luring us in with a tritium bed light (or whatever the use case was) to give a full lecture about nuclear weapons :-)

[@beryllium1932]

The thumbnail said, "Beta than Radium" Radium's reply: "I am the alpha"

[@233kosta]

"... and the gamma"

[@ryanhampson673]

I learned all this stuff when I went to EOD (bomb squad) school in the Army. The funny thing is you needed to have a secret clearance before you could attend this portion of the school. It’s all out there on you tube but if I talked about it I would have gotten into trouble lol.

[@robertharper3754]

You just have to love military idiocy! 😂🤣😝 I encountered so much over-classification in my time that my eyes started to twitch! So much wasted energy that could be put towards keeping actual information that needs to be protected!

[@patrickday4206]

I've had old encyclopedia sets that explained how nuclear weapons work that were absolutely wrong some that listed pieces of accurate information the internet has made things harder to keep as much secret

[@richiehoyt8487]

Ryanhanson has left the chat. Internet access ain't too readily available in Leavenworth! 😉

[@jamesrosar3823]

How a fusion detonation properly works is information readily available to those who either need to know, or have sufficient intellect to work it out. There seems to be a general agreement to obfuscate design elements as a means to avoid proliferation, as futile as that may be. Perhaps it may deter or delay a few while promoting the general ignorance. Oh, well.

[@fourtyfivefudd]

I have a watch made my Marathon and it has Tritium tubes. Green for 1-11, as well as the hands, and orange for 12. As well as a Tritium alarm clock my my bed. My absolute favorite time pieces!

[@andieslandies]

This was a great video, thank you! I came here because "Beta than Radium" struck me as a hilariously cringeworthy pun, and I work with a lot of legacy radioluminescent items. The one thing you didn't mention was that 3H is a better source of radiation than 226Ra for illumination because its low energy Beta radiation is less damaging to the phosphorescent materials that produce the light than Radium's Alpha radiation.

[@allanrichardson1468]

The second H-bomb test on Bikini Atoll is the origin of the bikini swimsuit’s name. Fashion designers in France heard about it and other nuclear bomb tests and named the swimsuit to appeal to the fatalistic idea that since the end of the world was nigh, people might as well have fun and not worry about the consequences. So the fear of nuclear war named the attire to show off a “bombshell” (or not) figure!

[@26betsam]

Well done sir, After being on nuclear alert in both B-52's and FB-111's as a pilot. I appreciate your program.

[@martin.ristal]

Hey, could you make playlists so people could watch similar topics. Binge watching should also help people find your channel.

[@CanadianMacGyver]

Done! :)

[@233kosta]

Much as we all LOVE a big kaboom (and I can promise you Teller was overjoyed at Castle Bravo), the military soon realised that past about a megatonne you run into diminishing returns. That's why they later focused on making their bombs smaller, lighter and more efficient, ultimately leading to MIRVs.

[@ptonpc]

From what I recall, a very large percentage of the Tsar Bomba's energy went into space.

[@v8pilot]

I remember 1970's STC Trimphones that had tritium powered green lights. A firm that dismantled them was prosecuted for using teenagers to dismantle them - apparently using young people on radioactive items is forbidden.

[@ThomasGrillo]

Actually, the tzar bomba's power was dialed back out of fear it would ignite the planet's atmosphere. Thanks for the video.

[@susanlodges48]

It excites the oxygen molecules in the water that makes the blue light. You forgot to mention Lithium-7. Never mind.

[@terrydavis8451]

Once again an amazing video. It is criminal how few subs this channel has. Love the atomic topics!

[@ronan452]

Minor note, the mechanism responsible for implosion of the secondary is not actually plasma pressure from the channel filler. The shock (or series of shocks, as it were) which compresses the secondary is almost exclusively caused by ablation, which is when the outer layers of the tamper are blown off after being subjected to extreme heating. The channel filler is only there to inertially retard the expansion of the ablating tamper and radiation case, holding the channel open for longer. This is reflected in inertial confinement fusion experiments, where indirect drive targets will have their hohlraums filled with helium in a similar manner to thermonuclear weapons' plastic fillers. Not to overemphasize that it's really ablation and not ionized filler that implodes a secondary, but in direct drive ICF there isn't a channel filler at all - it's just a bare capsule in a vacuum. I can't make this next assertion for certain, but I think it's also likely that fogbank is not a true channel filler. There's another material called seabreeze which is solid polydiallyl pthalate resin with some kind of granular substance mixed into it, and we know that it's used in weapons like the B61 and the W80. Based on the high density and likely fact that the granular material has a different Z than the surrounding resin (which would be good for spatial diffusion of x-rays), it's likely that seabreeze is a proper channel filler. On the other hand, if fogbank is truly an aerogel, its low density would make it very non-ideal for the job of stopping impingement in the radiation channel. One theory I have is that fogbank is a tantalum pentoxide aerogel which exists in a millimeters-thin layer between the radiation case and the channel filler. It would be opaque and emissive just like the case itself is, but it would also be undense so as to be a poor ablator. With such a layer, the radiating inner surface of the weapon casing would be less able to eject material that can impinge on the radiation channel. There's a publicly available paper out of the National Ignition Facility where they tested this concept and you can see it by going to osti.gov and searching for "1763947". (Also if you want to learn about seabreeze, that's OSTI document no. 1070046.) I have two other ideas to the possible nature of fogbank, but this one is the least "out there", so to speak.

[@piatpotatopeon8305]

You sir, are an absolute gem! I haven't been this excited to discover a new channel since I first stumbled upon Forgotten Weapons.

[@superstitiousstoic6810]

First time encountering this channel... Was just trying to find out if I could use a beta light to look at a map in the dark. Subscribed. Also just realized the character in my profile picture is fitting 🤣

[@Shinzon23]

I have one of the beta lights issued to military for that

[@Rustedinmyshackleferd]

This radium paint was also used in ww2 german bunkers. Some of these bunkers whos inner walls are better preserved still glows.

[@alexanderkaiser3062]

Interestingly, in organic chemistry in particular, and supramolecular chemistry that I did research in, we used up liters of deuterated solvents, where the normal neutron-less hydrogen atom is replaced with deuterium, such as heavy water, (D2O), deuterated chloroform (CDCL3), and acids like deuterated trifluoroacetic acid. This was essential for the study of the structure of organic molecules through the technique of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR), which involves applying a strong external magnetic field to your molecule dissolved in the deuterated solvent. Since regular Hydrogen has an odd atomic number it has a characteristic called "spin" which aligns with the magnetic field, and releases detectible energy when it relaxes to its original position when the magnetic field is removed. This can allow you to understand the environment each hydrogen atom within a molecule, depending on what other groups are nearby and effecting the frequency with which each hydrogen atom resonates within the magnetic field, and ultimately allow you to deduce the structure of the molecule in question. Where deuterated solvents come in is, due to deuterium having that extra neutron, the overall spin of the deuterium atom is even, and thus does not interact with the applied external magnetic field. This essentially makes deuterium, and by extension, deuterated solvents, invisible to NMR and allows you to examine just the hydrogen atoms of the molecule dissolved in that deuterated solvent without outside noise or interference. Complete side note, but somethings that has always really bothered me, is that deuterated water, or heavy water, is hygroscopic, meaning that it absorbs water and will pull regular water out of the atmosphere. Makes sense from an entropic standpoint, but seems very counter intuitive to me that (heavy) water will rapidly absorb water and pull more water out of the atmosphere.

[@ivanardila]

Hello. Tnx for all of your explanations. I am trying to know more about the effects on biological systems of Deuterium, (wich is an hydrogen atom plus a neutron (I understood you said this)), and Tritium (another kind of Hydrogen, right?). Could you please explain me more, or give me some clues to find out this? I am worried about the Tritium on Fukushima water containers realesed into the sea.

[@alexanderkaiser3062]

​@@ivanardila Regarding the biological effects of Deuterium I would recommend reading up on this paper: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6241234/ Essentially they found that deuterium levels closest to natural occurrence rates are optimal for human cell function, and that significantly excess or reduced 2D levels stress the cells in different ways. The wikipedia page for the Kinetic Isotope Effect is also a good read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_isotope_effect Regarding Tritium in Fukishima release water, their maximum concentration of tritium in the waste water is far below the threshold for drinking water, and so far they have been at concentrations well below that stated limit. Frankly, they have been excessive in their abundance of caution and have gone far and above what would be necessary.

[@iitzfizz]

There were actually 'wet' hydrogen bombs developed and fielded by the United States as 'Emergency Capability Weapons' which used Dewar vacuum flasks to store the cryogenic fusion fuel, these things were huge and impractical but they did exist; if only for a brief time. Once the Castle Bravo test showed the feasibility of Lithium dry fuel they were quickly phased out.

[@stevengill1736]

There's still a few of those radium/phosphor illuminated aircraft instruments from WW II at large. And the latest version of "the radium girls" happened not that long ago happened in a shop where such instruments were collected and the radium/phosphor mix was recycled. One of the interesting developments of the last few years is a more efficient phosphor - the classic old phosphors were based on zinc sulfide, but the newer ones are based on europium - doped strontium aluminate.

[@quitecapable]

Amazing video, so clear and absorbing. Always think I will fast forward it, and never can. I hope the algorithm finally finds you. At least the videos are timeless, so may find a home as a reference in years to come.

[@brianredban9393]

I have a light from the 1980s that the military used to read maps. I think you can still find them

[@Nafetitive]

Another great video from a channel that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. However, as someone who is just old enough to have lived through and remember the last bits of the Cold War Era (I'm 44), and grown up watching movies and TV shows dealing with Nuclear War (with the ever-present threat of a real Nuclear War prior to the fall of the Soviet Union), this particular subject had me a bit on edge. Atomic weaponry definitely falls under the category of "just because you can doesn't mean you should." One minute you had me thinking "yay, there's a limit to how big they can make a Nuke's yield," aaannnnnd then you went on to the really terrifying stuff. And now I'm thinking "okay, well, we now have the capability to efficiently wipe out 99.95% of all life on Earth... But at least the radioactive Fallout will be so minimal that the remaining 0.05% of life will be able to safely walk/crawl along the ashy surface after Humanity has bid the world adieu."

[@Fido-vm9zi]

Can you imagine recycled tritium waste being used to create glass, road or other types of materials? Interesting information. Thank you!

[@CanadianMacGyver]

I recall reading about a company that made auto-illuminating paint made of tiny glass sphere beta lights suspended in acrylic medium. Imagine painting all you walls with that!

[@turkfiles]

Great job. Very in-depth look into amazing world of fission, boosted and fusion weapons.

[@Dingomush]

This was a great episode. Very informative and interesting!

[@WSmogpule]

Your BEST documentary to date!

[@richiehoyt8487]

It is rumoured that Edward Teller actually drew _two_ salaries. One for himself, and another for his eyebrows!

[@randyhavener1851]

Very well explained. Thank you!

[@jessebob325]

This was so interesting. I learned quite a bit IMO. The narration was easy to follow and had a pleasant voice. ☕️😊

[@tivoguy3639]

Thanks for all your facinating videos! A few years ago I went to a wine tasting that was sponsored by Riedel. The company representative told us that Riiedel is pronounced like needle.

[@mro4ts457]

Great video, thank you for some quality content!

[@NecronLordArhiman]

Fun fact, the scopes (C79) on the Canadian C7 have tritium treated reticles and are a radiological hazard when dropped.

[@davida1hiwaaynet]

Love it! Thanks for the amazing discussion.

[@Shinzon23]

Great video, but why only 360p?

[@MrMistery101]

This is fantastic.

[@DHyre]

My understanding is that it was Enrico Fermi who, somewhat casually, asked Teller in 1941 if he thought the fission bomb they were investigating might be used to initiate fusion.

[@alansmith8837]

Quickly becoming my fave channel

[@BerlietGBC]

Outstanding Thank you

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video, Gilles...👍

[@richiehoyt8487]

It may only be a little thing, but I thank you fervently, Mr. Messier, for your correct pronunciation of the word 'nuclear', as opposed to the all - but - inescapable 'nyou~killer'; often by people that really ought to know better. Presidents, for example!

[@600322]

The reason why mr Mesien has so few listeners/viewers in his lectures is that people nowadays are not used to long sentences and feel bored instaed of using there mobiles

[@Mike-bh7sh]

aka tiktok.

[@donaldasayers]

I use these as light switch pulls so you can find them in the dark.

[@Raczoon]

Great video. Well researched and interesting end-to-end.

[@MrSabram07]

Great explanation ty

[@xelacrypt]

love the musorgsy intro & love the content!

[@dmikelyn]

VERY interesting channel my friend! Well researched and well presented. Please accept a big thank you from Mission, British Columbia and please keep up the great work :-)

[@maynardjohnson3313]

So, that's how you boost the yield. Neat!

[@321CatboxWA]

Good job!

[@gman6081]

In another life...I sold electeical supplies...occasionally sold emergency exit signs that were tritium gas filled. Necessary for applications in hazardous/explosive environment, such as chemical plants/labs.

[@teambridgebsc691]

What a pretty light ~ oh, wait, there's much much more ~

[@Shawn_the_Protogen]

I made a necklace with a titanium bead and 6-1.5x3mm tritium vials, it's nice but I need to add more, it feels very simple and I want more glow. You also forgot to mention tritium batteries.

[@voltare2amstereo]

i have two in the toilet room for night lighting. 5 years and still glowing

[@old_guard2431]

Polonium. Fun fact: strips of this were used in dust brushes in the darkroom to kill static electricity on negatives. I remember them primarily from the 1960s and 1970s but they were phased out at some point. Probably for similar reasons to the radium luminescent paint. (&$#$ dangerous.) Too bad, worked well.

[@fanplant]

Sorry that green exit light is led.

[@ypaulbrown]

thanks so much, my watch has Tritium numbers, unfortunately, it is 50 years old and no long glows......oh well...... thanks for letting me know about Tritium.....Paul in Florida

[@stephenbritton9297]

Deuterium is also the matter fuel used in all standard Starfleet warplanes drives.

[@CoolDudeClem]

Well I learned something today. Untill now, I thought the very early glow in the dark stuff just stores light and then emits it later on when it's dark just like modern glow in the dark stuff does. I didn't know it could continuously emit light without needing to be "recharged". Also I allways thought that all glow in the dark stuff was radioactive. I thought all radioactive stuff could store green light and then emit later when it's dark.

[@Wileama]

Didn’t the beta shot fallout also affect the native population that the US forceable relocated? From what I recall the Bikini Atoll tests were deeply problematic.

[@clytle374]

They inhaled and ingested it, there is the problem.

[@Plons0Nard]

Gilles, you missed the tri-lithium core and the beryllium spheres , used in ST and Galaxy Quest resp. 😊 Well done sir. Very interesting vlog. 👍🏻🤝🏻🇳🇱

[@travislupum]

I am tritium obsessed i b9ught a custom bakers cap tail light for a vintage surefire light and set my tritium vials with norland61 now I tritium everything

[@deltacx1059]

Holy crap KZbin gave me 30 ads on this video, they are really getting desperate.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

A "slight" detour in nuclear weapons design

[@iPsychlops]

Lol I wanted to learn about tritium lights. But this is definitely a video I would have on my other nerd playlist 😅🥰

[@hovant6666]

I have an ice blue keychain of it that I love

[@apu_apustaja]

Stimulating video. (I enjoyed both pixels.)

[@mikentx57]

So where are places that I can get these tritium viles for lights? I can find the metal cases that the vile would go in.

[@oldspicey6001]

How do you know something about everything?

[@linkbond08]

Tritium night sights are the best girls

[@richiehoyt8487]

As someone who suffers from skin ulcers, I can only imagine the pain suffered by those girls with necrotic bones as a result of Radium Jaw (or their 19th Century counterparts in the match industry who suffered from the similar 'Phossy' (Phosphorous) 'Jaw'.) I can't imagine their beeath was too nice, either. *l8as†ards!* Pro Tip: if the people who prepare or bring you the chemicals you work with are all decked out in protective gear, it might be time to do a bit of homework - or quit! Also, I don't want to be too 'woke' about it, but you can't help but notice that the people working with this stuff at the sharp end were all women, whereas the people who had the protective gear were blokes!

[@patrickday4206]

I clicked on this because "beta than radium " 😂😅😊

[@alcyonecrucis]

You mean my nite glo watch ?

[@PsRohrbaugh]

Beta light? I want an alpha light.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

All my tritium devices have gone dark (gunsights, and compass "aimers")

[@martonlerant5672]

Sir, its Teller-Ulam, not Keller-Ulam

[@setoman1]

But it’s alpha…

[@GrizaLeono]

La historio kaj la teorio estas interesaj. Dankon pro via rakonto pri ili. La rezulto, la atomarmada konkurso estas katastrofa kaj la aĵoj estu neniam plu uzotaj.

[@NoahSpurrier]

These lights also emit a small amount of secondary gamma radiation due to the Bremsstrahlung effect. It’s maybe not much radiation, but gamma is very penetrating, so you might not want to keep one of these lights on a keychain in your pocket.

[@JCWren]

Give them as keychain gifts to people you think shouldn't breed.

[@233kosta]

Tritium electrons are very low energy, you get barely an X-ray at the other end. A CRT TV will emit both higher energy X-rays and more of them too.

[@milmaxleo7268]

Generally, you only refer to the photons emitted by a nucleus dropping to a lower energy state following a α/β decay. The photons created when an electron is deflected and decelerated by another charged particle (Bremsstrahlung) are normally referred to as X-Rays. The effective energy coming off a tritium vial is somewhere around 8KeV if memory serves, so it's not very penetrating thankfully.

[@robdutton2617]

C79 optical sight uses tritium for the night sight with the triangular tip of the post in the reticle. It worked quite well (I’m a former Canadian Army reservist, we had that sight on C7s and C9s) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C79_optical_sight

[@dumbassloser]

Thumbs down just for 360p.