• the_strange@feddit.org
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    3 days ago

    The decay products themselves decay through beta decay before arriving at a stable (at human timescales) U234 again. In the chain there is a bit of gamma radiation sprinkled in as well, but overall the decay chain, with the shielding provided by the glass, whatever other bedside obstacle there might have been and the probably small sample size should not have increased the obtained radiation dosage by a significant amount.

    • BussyCat@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I could be mistaken but doesn’t u238 go down the full alpha decay chain ending in lead206 albeit with a few random beta minus decays thrown in that also shouldn’t penetrate glass?