MODUK DTD-5587 PDF

Scope and intended application

This specification relates to:

a white undercoat paint;

an unpigmented paint medium;

a tritium-activated luminous compound.

The luminous compound is designed to be mixed with the paint medium to form a luminous paint.

The luminous paint is intended to be used in conjunction with the white undercoat to form a painting system for the preparation of markings on instrument dials and pointers which will be protected from gross contamination with water by at least a cover giass This paint system will be applied over the normal protective paints on wood or metal by brushing, peg stick or silk screen stencilling.

Precautionary note on handling this material

The manipulation of radio-active luminous compounds and paints is governed by the Factories (Luminising) Special Regulation, 1947. Attention is also drawn to the Radio-active Substances Act 1960, and to an Introductory Manual on the Control of Health Hazards from Radio-active Materials, prepared for the Medid Research Council by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment.

All manipulation of luminous compounds and luminous paints shali be carried out in a cabinet, efficiently ventilated by mechanical means to the open air and maintained at a pressure slightly lower than atmospheric to prevent escapes of radio-active materials. A suitable cabinet is shown in D.C.I, Diagram No. 147.

When the luminous paint is used for luminising it is recommended that it should be applied at a dry film thickness of the order of 1/64 inch which corresponds to a luminosity of 0.007 candela/ft². The level of radio-activity associated with a luminous paint coating of this thickness is of the order of one rad per hour per square inch of the luminised surface.