[Nik Naym]

They do use a radioactive source for taking x rays of welds. But not depleted uranium. The sources for metallurgical x rays are mighty strong. You wouldn’t want to be exposed to the beam.

[Sursam Abordine]

These sources can and do KILL. A simple web search can find pivtures of the damage they can do to the body. MOst of the sources are smaller than a finger tip inside the machine. The rest is shielding.

For example...SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR -- In February 1989, an accident took place at an industrial irradiation facility near San Salvador where medical products are sterilized by irradiation from a cobalt-60 source. The accident happened when the source rack became stuck in the irradiation position. The operator bypassed safety systems and entered the radiation room with two other workers to free the source rack manually. They were exposed to high radiation doses and developed acute radiation syndrome. The legs and feet of two of the three men were so seriously injured that amputation was required. The most-exposed worker died just over six months after the accident.

[BobS]

"They do use a radioactive source for taking x rays of welds. But not depleted uranium. The sources for metallurgical x rays are mighty strong."

There is a metal X-ray at work. A console. You have to increase the cathode voltage by thousands of volts for greater penetration and position for clarity on the monitor to take the picture. The source looks like those big heavy Klystron microwave sources Varian used to make. DC voltage excites the radiac material. There is an anode voltage that focuses the gamma rays electromagnetically. Same principle as a TV CRT.

And a reciever that serves as a camera for the monitor image. I should read the service manual to find out the construction of that part.

I don't know about steel, but aluminum dip brazed aircraft parts need 9-10KV cathode volts to see what's wrong inside of them with this model.