From: dmhills{at}attglobal.net (Don Hills)

In article ,
"John Beamish"  wrote:
>A couple of years ago we were replacing both of our smoke detectors.
>Knowing that they had something radioactive in them (but still not certain
>exactly what), I called the waste disposal people asking if there were
>special disposal locations (as with paint, paint cleaner, thinner, etc.).  I
>was told that municipal disposal policy was that no special handling was
>necessary because the quantity was just a trace amount.

Yup. Landfill. In some places, the plastic case may be recyclable. The
radioactive element itself is an almost invisible speck sealed in aluminium
foil. Getting a bare speck in your lungs would not be a good thing, but the
effort of collecting and de-encapsulating enough to be credible even as a
scare weapon would be considerable. Much quicker and easier to pick up a
used DU projectile or two from any recent war zone and powder it with a wet
grinding wheel. More credibility with the general public (the U-word) and
readily detectable (to back up the credibility).

--
Don Hills    (dmhills at attglobaldotnet)     Wellington, New Zealand
It's ironic that people who are too smart to engage in politics are
governed by people who are not as smart.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5