Reply #14: I doubt that very much. It's more likely that some will be sold, [View All]

to the survivalist types. Other than that, it's just a curiosity thing. People will be notified if there is any major contamination.

I sold my last counter, and it was a very good, very expensive one, when I closed my mineral specimen business. I stopped shipping radioactive specimens after 9/11, just to avoid hassles, even though it was quite legal. Some of the specimens in my stock were very active alpha emitters, like autunite. Very beautiful, too, as you can see below:



That specimen came from France, but excellent specimens of the mineral also come from the region around Spokane, WA. Interesting.

Autunite is an ore of uranium, and is pretty amazing when you hit it with ultraviolet light. It lights up like an electric bulb. Very popular with collectors for that and its stunning beauty.