Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Used in a variety of applications including gunsights, compasses, and emergency exit signs, "beta lights" convert the beta radiation emitted by Tritium - a heavy isotope of hydrogen - into visible light. They are one in a long line of radioluminescent devices starting with Radium luminous paint, introduced in the early 1900s. Tritium also has a wide variety of other applications, most notably in boosted fission and thermonuclear weapons.
TIFO CANDU Video: youtube.com/watch?v=i1RNr-PZkxA&pp=ygUXdG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgY2FuZHU%3D
TIFO Hydrogen Bomb Video: youtube.com/watch?v=WBs6iLbKki8&pp=ygUfdG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgaHlkcm9nZW4gYm9tYtIHCQneCQGHKiGM7w%3D%3D
TIFO Radiation Video: youtube.com/watch?v=mFA6IXu37Pc&pp=ygUldG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgcmFkaWF0aW9uIGJvZHkgdGFrZQ%3D%3D
0:00 Introduction
1:07 Properties of Tritium
3:10 Discovery of Tritium
4:42 Thermonuclear Weapons: Introduction
10:48 Boosted Fission Weapons
13:21 Teller-Ulam Design
20:00 Radioluminescent Lighting
20:39 Radium-226
23:13 Promethium-147
23:54 Strontium-90
25:05 Tritium (Beta) Lights
26:26 False Origins of Beta Lights
28:38 Tritium Safety
29:23 Tritium Paint
29:44 Other Applications
30:51 Tritium Production
31:21 Outro
SOURCES
uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/detailed-rocks-and-minerals-articles/tritium
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36083730
patents.google.com/patent/US2749251A/en?oq=2749251
chemteam.info/Chem-History/Rutherford-1934a/Rutherford-1934a.html
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/sight-for-law-rocket-launcher.html
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/tritium-exit-sign.html
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/tritium-sight-for-m-16-rifle.html
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946070/JSP_392_Chapter_19_-_GTLS_-GTLD__Alt_Text_.pdf
perezcope.com/2019/11/30/luminor-2020-debunking-panerais-fictional-history-of-tritium-based-lume
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/index.html
patents.google.com/patent/US4677008A/en
national-radiation-instrument-catalog.com/new_page_37.htm
mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-you-asked/what-tritium-paint
horolonomics.com/2020/05/the-history-of-radioactive-rolex-with.html
watchprosite.com/rolex/rolex-and-radioactivity/732.901183.6169193
Used in a variety of applications including gunsights, compasses, and emergency exit signs, "beta lights" convert the beta radiation emitted by Tritium - a heavy isotope of hydrogen - into visible light. They are one in a long line of radioluminescent devices starting with Radium luminous paint, introduced in the early 1900s. Tritium also has a wide variety of other applications, most notably in boosted fission and thermonuclear weapons.
TIFO CANDU Video: youtube.com/watch?v=i1RNr-PZkxA&pp=ygUXdG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgY2FuZHU%3D
TIFO Hydrogen Bomb Video: youtube.com/watch?v=WBs6iLbKki8&pp=ygUfdG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgaHlkcm9nZW4gYm9tYtIHCQneCQGHKiGM7w%3D%3D
TIFO Radiation Video: youtube.com/watch?v=mFA6IXu37Pc&pp=ygUldG9kYXkgaSBmb3VuZCBvdXQgcmFkaWF0aW9uIGJvZHkgdGFrZQ%3D%3D
0:00 Introduction
1:07 Properties of Tritium
3:10 Discovery of Tritium
4:42 Thermonuclear Weapons: Introduction
10:48 Boosted Fission Weapons
13:21 Teller-Ulam Design
20:00 Radioluminescent Lighting
20:39 Radium-226
23:13 Promethium-147
23:54 Strontium-90
25:05 Tritium (Beta) Lights
26:26 False Origins of Beta Lights
28:38 Tritium Safety
29:23 Tritium Paint
29:44 Other Applications
30:51 Tritium Production
31:21 Outro
SOURCES
uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/detailed-rocks-and-minerals-articles/tritium
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36083730
patents.google.com/patent/US2749251A/en?oq=2749251
chemteam.info/Chem-History/Rutherford-1934a/Rutherford-1934a.html
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/sight-for-law-rocket-launcher.html
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/tritium-exit-sign.html
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/tritium-sight-for-m-16-rifle.html
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946070/JSP_392_Chapter_19_-_GTLS_-GTLD__Alt_Text_.pdf
perezcope.com/2019/11/30/luminor-2020-debunking-panerais-fictional-history-of-tritium-based-lume
orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioluminescent/index.html
patents.google.com/patent/US4677008A/en
national-radiation-instrument-catalog.com/new_page_37.htm
mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-you-asked/what-tritium-paint
horolonomics.com/2020/05/the-history-of-radioactive-rolex-with.html
watchprosite.com/rolex/rolex-and-radioactivity/732.901183.6169193
