Relevant anecdote.
When I was in school I was engaging in one of my favorite pastimes, poking around in the ancient basements full of forgotten old science crap.
I found a metal box and opened it up, wondering why the box and its lid were so damn heavy. Inside were a bunch of black plastic pucks, with labels disintegrated by time. I spent a while looking closely trying to figure out what they were, and then it struck me: They were radioisotope sources! The box was so heavy because it was shielded.
It looked frighteningly like this highly radioactive
"scary object".
I dropped it in horror and went to go find a physicist to lend me a Geiger counter, and surprisingly secured one with a minimum of questioning.
Much to my relief I found that the source pucks were completely dead, whatever isotopes they contained had decayed away decades ago (so whatever they contained clearly wasn't Radium).
I do have a handheld Geiger counter now, but I don't carry it exploring because it's not really worth the bulk. It was only that one time that it would have actually been useful.
No leads on a probe for you. Just save a search on ebay and play the waiting game.
Post by Aran would a Geiger counter pick up natural uranium dust in the air? |
It probably wouldn't be able to distinguish between airborne dust and elevated background radiation in the mines, but it would still be neat to see.