ORAU’s Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity showcases hundreds of historical artifacts and consumer products.
The Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity has been around since retired ORAU health physicist Paul Frame began collecting relevant artifacts for hands-on use and demonstrations in our Professional Training Programs (PTP) in the 1980s. He got permission to buy display cases, and his collection grew from there. The problem was that these amazing pieces of history—such as the world’s oldest direct reading pocket dosimeter—were behind locked doors not intended for public access. Because of the nature of the training classes focused on radiation (inside a Department of Energy facility no less), security requirements in this controlled area didn’t allow for casual museumgoers.
What started with radiation instrumentation (Frame’s first love) expanded to include atomic novelties and pieces of history: items like rebar pulled from the bridge targeted in the Hiroshima bombing that brought World War II to a close and consumer items like atomic toy guns marketed to children in the 1950-60s. Before long, Frame had chronicled scientific discovery and even the commercial history of radioactivity through his collection. In fact, Frame’s items became the official repository of historical artifacts for the Health Physics Society. (Health physicists are specialists in radiation protection.)
We knew it was a treasure trove. So, rather than let it go unnoticed, our team uploaded everything to our website for anyone to peruse. The collection found a niche online and has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of web visitors since the early 2000s.
When ORAU’s PTP recently moved from its Department of Energy facility home to a new location in the Pollard Center on the ORAU main campus, it was the chance for the Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity to be open to the community for the first time.
The planning and moving happened over the course of more than a year.
For those of us who were involved, we may never want to pack and unpack boxes again—we did this at least six times throughout the process, but after round four, it gets a little fuzzy! As we went, I took video clips to document the progress. We used a conference room as our staging ground, and it was a delight seeing it come to life: from crammed cases in a restricted access hallway to interactive, educational presentation in a public space. We had to organize, research, design and stage. It was a fun brain stretch.
Here's a look behind the scenes as we reimagined ORAU’s Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity.
I want you to know a few other notes of interest:
- Though it is a museum about radiation, our safety team made sure that every item has been scanned, and everything is safe for display.
- While items are labeled and we’ve written explanations about specific topics, the online museum is still the best place to learn about everything in the collection.
- The collection was so large that we were able to donate select items to the National Museum of Civil Defense in Texas.
- If you are interested in seeing ORAU’s Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity for yourself, admission is free. Email communications@orau.org to schedule a tour.
- I mentioned the collection started as part of ORAU’s PTP, learn more about ORAU’s Professional Training Program and radiation safety.