Quote:
Originally Posted by knightofrubus
I imagine scrap metal as a whole would be a huge trade good especially metal that's clean of radioactivity. After all,some of the best 'mine's in the form of old cities got nuked pretty hard and even 150 years later may very well be still be pretty hot.
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Unless you are in a crater of a surface or subsurface blast, most common metals will not be that radioactive after 150 years. The most likely isotopes activated in iron have a half-life of 2.7 years or less. In copper, the half-lives is measured in hours. With the exception of one very rare isotope of aluminum, the half-lives are measured in second or nanoseconds. While there is going to be some hotter spots, by and large scavenging metal should be safe.