I always thought you would glow blue....

u...uranium...?

Why in the world do you own some Uranium ore?... That's weird and why would they place that in the middle of the room?

holy crap
that stuff is not good to be around i suggest you get it lead boxed and give it to a museum or some where
its illegal to have with out paper work

WTF? Who would just put it there?Why? Are they trying to make a statement?

thats....one way to get back at the landlords

... What about your sis? I mean, she took it with her hands?

I collect fluorescent minerals from all over the world. This was a specimen of one of the common ones, but yeah, its radioactive. Not wildly radioactive mind- a smoke detector has a LOT stronger radiation source buried inside- the problem with Tobernite is, the crystals are easily damaged, and can flake off if touched. That leaves radioactive flakes all over the place, and you DON'T want to be inhaling radioactive flakes!

There are a LOT of radioactive minerals out there, either aas minor inclusions within common minerals, or just radioactive on there own. Here in Florida, we have shitloads of Uranium beneath our feet- it constantly decays into Radon gas, and leaches into the soil, rising up into our homes, where it accumulates if they are too tightly sealed. Cement homes are very prone to this, which makes them a good industry for the radon gas detector people.

A specimen of Tobernite,-or any other mineral- is NOT illegal to possess. There are other minerals a LOT hotter than Tobernite- like Autunite. Still haven't had the nerve to add one of those to my collection. They are pretty expensive, for one. But all of them are safe, as long as they are not left out IN THE OPEN!!! The radiation they produce- mostly Alpha and Beta- cannot make it through a sheet of paper, let alone the glass of a display case. But you sure as Hell don't want that dust inside of you!

I was more than a little surprised to find it out. I had warned them all NOT to handle that specimen! But there it was, just sitting on my desk…

A very What The Fuck? moment.

How big is this specimen volume-wise? three pounds doesn't seem like it'd go very far where uranium is concerned...

PS. I remember a lot of people being surprised by the "radioactive" bananas during Radiation Safety training...

Its what is referred to as a "cabinet size" specimen in the trade- it fits just barely in a shoebox. Most of it is matrix- the background, non mineral stone that the Tobernite was deposited on. The crystals are about 1-2 mm in size, they encrust nearly one entire face of the matrix. there are places here in the US where it occurs, for instance in the emerald mines of North Carolina, where I tried to collect last year, but the crystals are too fragile, and any efforts to remove specimens were rewarded with little green specks of powder, rather than something to display- the blasting in the area had rendered the delicate mineral into an unfortunate paste.

Most ores aren't that bad to be around for short periods of time. I wouldn't keep it in my pocket for extended periods of time, if you get my drift. But yeah, if its flakey, that's pretty bad.

I have carnotite, tyuyamunite (both uranium) and monazite (thorium) on my shelf.

SCIENCE!