Radioactive Spark Plugs

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Hi, anyone familiar with or in possession of old Firestone radioactive spark plugs? I understand they came about circa 1940 and were sold until the early-mid 1950s; they used polonium in the electrode, with the typical claimed advantages of efficiency and power increased, etc.

It will have Polonium on the ceramic.

Not certain if I would treasure one as an interesting artifact, or run from it…

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Very interesting.

I will have to check my stash of old plugs and see if I have one.

I have mostly AC plugs from what I can recall.

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I had a set in one of my Model T’s a few years back. I didn’t notice any difference in how it ran but didn’t keep them either. Something about the radioactive part I really didn’t like.

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Relax kids. The most common radioisotope of Polonium is Po-210. It is an alpha particle emitter with a half life of 140 days. That means that its decay to harmless levels takes only four years. Even when new Po-210 is harmless unless it is ingested, i.e. ground up and swallowed or inhaled. Seems unlikely for sparkplug electrodes.

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Still, they sound like fun, don’t they?

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Do they glow in the dark?

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