Darch Kit

From Wild Southwest Wiki

The Darch Kit is a radiation detection system invented in 2071 by Boyup Brook resident Stephanie Darch. It is manufactured by the Darch Radiation Company in Pemberton, and is heavily used by Scavs venturing into the Radlands.

The Kit

A brand new kit consists of a lead lined wooden box (22cm x 15cm x 12cm) with a hinged lid and a carrying handle. Inside is a wide necked bottle of developing fluid, a small pair of metal clippers, a long pair of tweezers and twenty-five 2cm circles of photographic film wrapped in paper and sealed in small lead envelopes. A colour chart is glued inside the lid.

Replacement film packets and developing fluid can be purchased from the Darch Radiation Company.

Use

To take a reading, a lead envelope is removed from the kit. The clippers are used to remove the lead shielding and the paper wrapped film is exposed to the environment for exactly five minutes. The film packet is then dropped into the developing fluid and swirled around until the paper turns deep blue (as compared to the colour chart). The packet is then removed from the fluid with the tweezers and the paper removed. The darkness of the film is compared to the colour chart to estimate local radiation levels.

The Darch kit provides a fairly accurate assessment of local radiation hazards, acting as a kind of geiger counter. The chief disadvantage is that the operator must be exposed to the environment for at least five minutes to obtain a reading. The Darch Radiation Company has tried for many years to overcome these problems, however the Darch kit is still the most reasonably priced radiation detection system available.