Question:

Is the sand outside of the gates of area 51 radioactive?

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i got the sand from there its very fine

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  1. There are three commonly occurring radioactive isotopes in nature - uranium, thorium, and potassium.  Uranium and throium minerals are usually very soft (they weather easily) so its unlikely you can get U or Th in sand. However, you can get K in orthoclase feldspar, which is common in sand.  

    So yes, the sand at Area 51 could very well be radioactive. But its not going to be radiaoctive any more than sand from other areas.

    Pure beach sand will be essentially all calcite (carbonate sands say in the Bahamas) or all quartz (the Dunes in Oregon), and those minerals will not be radioactive.


  2. No more so than sand from anywhere else outside the nuclear test sites.  The fact that the sand is very fine has nothing to do with whether or not it is radioactive.

    If you are concerned, take it to a local university (or maybe even a high school physics department) and have them test it with a geiger counter.

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