Rayode
I regularly see posts from a local here in Longmont touting the idea that we could all have nuclear reactors (yes, reactors) in our front yards – among other whacked-out concepts. Aside from this being an astoundingly bad idea just on general terms it begs the question of what sort of other stupidity Americans would attempt if we didn’t have careful regulation of radioactives.
This advertisement should tell you pretty graphically just how stupid we as a nation can be.
Courtesy of spuzzlightyear at LiveJournal
Read more scary stuff here – these were ‘doctors’ of the time .
Although having these things around was definitely not a good idea, the water treated in such a way would not be dangerous, since water can’t be made radioactive in that way. (The metal leaching out of the rayode might be more of a problem, depending on what it was.)
Interesting historical note: pots made of clay impregnated with radium were used for a similar purpose; oddly, almost all of them were made in the shape later used for the cooling towers of nuclear reactors. I almost bought one once, not knowing that they’re classed as hazardous waste.