Radiation from potash?

[Missi]

I do not remember, when the geiger counter was first used and by whom. A (very quick) search didn't give any results. So without any confirmation two vague ideas why here could have been measurements:

The students involved in the search were physics and radiology students among others. Maybe one of them build a very simple geiger counter himself, brought it, because why not, and discovered spikes he them told the leaders about, leading to more and more scientific relevant measurements?

One of the hikers (I don't remember who) worked at... I believe it was called Chelyabinsk at the time. The secret town that's known as Mayak also, that people know for the Kyshtym disaster, which happened a few years earlier. Another worked at another PO, where, if I remember correctly, nuclear materials were also handled.
Maybe that could have been the reason, why there were measurements.

There was no Geiger counter in the Dyatlov Groups Inventory. As I have pointed out before there must have been a reason for a Geiger counter or counters to be used in the search.

You understood me wrong. What I mean is: It is possible for someone to build their own Geiger counter (if they know how to and have access to some gadgets. I know someone, who build one himself.
I didn't suggest, that one of the dyatlovites had one with them, but that someone in the search team might have brought one selfbuilt, because why not? It might have been a chance to test it far out in the wilderness. Let's just say, this happened, that someone tested their counter after shifts and got a higher reading than expected. If it was originating from the bodies or the area the bodies were found of maybe an area the search team visited frequently, they would have reported their findings.

I don't say, it must have happened like this. I only say, it might have been a possibility.

[Missi]

What would cause a beam of radiation as if the group of hikers were being targeted in 1959 on a random slope in the middle of nowhere ? Where did this so called ray gun or phenomenon come from?

"Beam of radiation" is a wrong guess made by Ivanov. He admitted (as one of the options) that "the balls" could have a crew onboard:

"I can say that only those who were in these balls know more than me about these circumstances. And whether there were "people" there and whether they are always there - no one knows yet."

Since he admits that "the balls" could be piloted, his next assumption is that "the astronauts" could shoot at the hikers from beta guns or something like that. Of course, this is a wrong assumption. "The balls" were not piloted, and nobody shot at the hikers. The right assumption was provided by Levashov on page 377 in the case files: "clothes are contaminated with radioactive dust dropped from the atmosphere, or this garment has been exposed to contamination when working with radioactive substances, or on contact". Two or three hikers approached fallen "fireball" and had contact with it, that contact resulted in beta contamination.

I don't know if this has been investigated, but at the time, radioactive substances were used for glowing watch faces and similar glow in the dark stuff. Also other objects used somewhat radioactive materials. I don't actually know by now (I planed to review the things that were found again, but I just put out the idea here), might there have been something in the things the group brought themselves, like a watch face that was broken and could therefor contaminate the clothes? Maybe a gaslantern of a special build that was used back then? Just an idea, I need to dig deeper upon.

[Ziljoe]

I don't know if this has been investigated, but at the time, radioactive substances were used for glowing watch faces and similar glow in the dark stuff. Also other objects used somewhat radioactive materials. I don't actually know by now (I planed to review the things that were found again, but I just put out the idea here), might there have been something in the things the group brought themselves, like a watch face that was broken and could therefor contaminate the clothes? Maybe a gaslantern of a special build that was used back then? Just an idea, I need to dig deeper upon.

You are correct Missi, the watches and lantern have been mentioned, I think the conclusion was that they wouldn't contain anywhere near enough radiation to give the readings.

Forum member Ryan wrote a really good account of the pros and cons of the readings. He seemed to have the correct knowledge. Link to his posts, you might have to log on to see them , he only has two pages of comments but they are high quality. 

https://forum.dyatlovpass.com/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=445

ive often wondered about northern 2 being the cause of the radiation. That's where they stayed on the first night of the trek, in an old hut . They broke fire wood and all cut themselves on old nails etc so that could be some of the cuts found later. There was apparently hot springs and a lot of mining going on in the past. We can see Yuri yudin with a large core sample that must have been drilled in the past and at some depth . Again I'm not sure if there would be enough contamination from the natural substances in the rocks but the certainly man handled a lot of stuff.

I also remember that small rocks were found in the hikers ruck sacks , pyrite or whatever. Dammed if I can remember where I read this, I think it's the case files somewhere.

[Hunter]

Regarding radiation contamination. Some of the tourists were working with radiation, so perhaps that's why they were trying to find bodies using radiation. Or they were using a different device, like a metal detector, but more sensitive than those used by other searchers.
Their clothing could have been contaminated because the tourists could have walked through the Ural radiation patch created by the Mayak accident and rubbed against a radioactive object. I read the memoirs of a geologist who was searching for radioactive ores in the Urals. He wrote that after the explosion at Mayak, work became more difficult – the device would signal, you'd take a sample, and it would be empty. "Greetings" from Mayak.

[Axelrod]

Shamil Sabirov stated at the last conference (February 2, 2026) that the beta radiation level on clothing was up to 60 times higher than that of some natural sources.

He says that the natural background radiation from such a 15 x 15 cm surface is 150 counts, while measured values ​​reached 9,000 counts.

[Missi]

Thanks, Ziljoe, for pointing me back there. I believe, some of those posts I already read and might have even taken part in the discussions. But I forgot over the years.

As you mention, I also have thought about the places at least some of them went on their journey. You're probably referring to the same excerpt from the group diary as I am:

January 28
We were awaken by the rumbling voices of Yurka Kri (Yuri Krivonischenko) and Sasha Kolevatov (Aleksander Kolevatov). Weather so far is smiling at us. It's only -8°C outside.
After breakfast, some of the guys lead by Yuri Yudin, our well- known geologist, went to look for local minerals. They didn't find anything except pyrite and quartz veins in the rock. Took them long time to wax their skis and adjust the mounting. Yuri Yudin goes back home today. It is a pity, of course, that he leaves us. Especially for me and Zina, but nothing can be done about it.

We know they were looking for pyrite and not further described quartz. Though pyrite seems to sometimes be close to areas with radioactive minerals (only mildly radioactive, though), there seems to be no reports of those close to Northern 2nd. (I took the fast lane and asked perplexity, so take this with a grain of salt.)

The contaminated area (after the accident in Mayak) does not interfere with the route the hikers took.

So aside from contamination brought from Mayak directly, I can only imagine an accident with something like a watch or lantern (as mentioned above, I'll try to read into it) or contamination acquired somewhere on the way. And at least perplexity suggests, that there are no areas with radioactive minerals close by. Though I think I remember Teddy mentioned that there were prospectors in the area looking for exactly those areas, so maybe the information perplexity gave is wrong...

Regarding radiation contamination. Some of the tourists were working with radiation, so perhaps that's why they were trying to find bodies using radiation. Or they were using a different device, like a metal detector, but more sensitive than those used by other searchers.
Their clothing could have been contaminated because the tourists could have walked through the Ural radiation patch created by the Mayak accident and rubbed against a radioactive object. I read the memoirs of a geologist who was searching for radioactive ores in the Urals. He wrote that after the explosion at Mayak, work became more difficult – the device would signal, you'd take a sample, and it would be empty. "Greetings" from Mayak.

I believe there were reports of the searchers using metal detectors, but failing at being successful with them. There're no reports of them using Geiger Counters to locate the bodies, only that they were scanned after being found.
As mentioned above, the East Urals Radioactive Trace doesn't interfere with the route of the hikers, so it's unlikely they touched anything contaminated by the accident in Mayak, other than the one working there... I forgot who was it.

Shamil Sabirov stated at the last conference (February 2, 2026) that the beta radiation level on clothing was up to 60 times higher than that of some natural sources.

He says that the natural background radiation from such a 15 x 15 cm surface is 150 counts, while measured values ​​reached 9,000 counts.

This really is the difficulty: Finding a source of radioactivity they could have had contact with, that was such a high emitter and that emitted mostly beta-radiation. That's why I was going for watches or lanterns, for if some of the material would have rubbed of, that might have been a high amount of radioactivity measured at the exact location... It doesn't feel like the solution, though.

[Hunter]

The radioactive contamination from the Mayak accident isn't a problem. It's like the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion. You can walk around the exclusion zone, but if your clothes rub against each other, they might emit radiation. The same thing happened here—they could have rubbed against a patch of radioactive contamination.
Krivonischenko was the worker.

[Axelrod]

The topic of radiation from the Kyshtym accident comes up so often that I must add that the Kyshtym trace contains significant radioactive emissions due to cesium,
(3.5% at the time of the accident and about 35% several years later).
During cesium decay, the proportions of gamma and beta radiation are approximately equal (500-600 kiloelectronvolts, a total of 1175).
Gamma radiation manifests itself during further decay.

Since gamma radiation was not detected (and almost none was detected), the radiation source cannot be cesium, and therefore cannot be the radioactive trace of Kyshtym accident .

[Missi]

The radioactive contamination from the Mayak accident isn't a problem. It's like the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion. You can walk around the exclusion zone, but if your clothes rub against each other, they might emit radiation. The same thing happened here—they could have rubbed against a patch of radioactive contamination.
Krivonischenko was the worker.

Those are two different things. You mentioned the East Urals Radioactive Trace. But it is not interfering with the route the hikers took. So it can't be the reason for the radioactive traces measured.
And you mentioned Krovonishenko, who worked at Mayak. I believe I read that they were monitored as to radioactivity leaving the designated areas. Not for the workers safety but for preventing theft. But without having verified that, I can believe that he brought traces of radioactivity with him.
That however would put the question: Why isn't more material contaminated? Or is it only that it was not invested thoroughly?

[Hunter]

Tourists could have picked up radiation on their clothes before their last trip - in previous ones.

[Axelrod]

A natural question arises: what was the source of this radiation? It's a big mystery.

It is clear that such a targeted source of radiation cannot be a consequence of the Kyshtym accident, which is a mixture of debris and everything.

[Missi]

Tourists could have picked up radiation on their clothes before their last trip - in previous ones.

Because they never washed their clothes? Remember what doses where stated to have been measured pre and post washing the material. It's highly unlikely that after washing their clothes regularly like everyone does there would still be that high levels of radiation. I'd go as far as assuming the clothes might have been contaminated in Mayak and then packed. But then still, we were no other clothes in the bag were contaminated?
But all circumstances taken into account, it's rather improbable that the radiation was picked up prior to the trip. At least not long before.

[Ziljoe]

What would cause a beam of radiation as if the group of hikers were being targeted in 1959 on a random slope in the middle of nowhere ? Where did this so called ray gun or phenomenon come from?

"Beam of radiation" is a wrong guess made by Ivanov. He admitted (as one of the options) that "the balls" could have a crew onboard:

"I can say that only those who were in these balls know more than me about these circumstances. And whether there were "people" there and whether they are always there - no one knows yet."

Since he admits that "the balls" could be piloted, his next assumption is that "the astronauts" could shoot at the hikers from beta guns or something like that. Of course, this is a wrong assumption. "The balls" were not piloted, and nobody shot at the hikers. The right assumption was provided by Levashov on page 377 in the case files: "clothes are contaminated with radioactive dust dropped from the atmosphere, or this garment has been exposed to contamination when working with radioactive substances, or on contact". Two or three hikers approached fallen "fireball" and had contact with it, that contact resulted in beta contamination.

Ok, I'm going to say it as I see it, ivanov is either a complete incompetent idiot or he has been used by the media to sell the dyatlov pass incident.

He wouldn't say ray guns or beans of radiation.

If this is correct,"Levashov on page 377 in the case files: "clothes are contaminated with radioactive dust dropped from the atmosphere, or this garment has been exposed to contamination when working with radioactive substances, or on contact"

Surely the clothes could only have been contaminated pre hike  ,  before the hikers went to the  pass ,for example ,northern 2 or work environments , or post discovery of the ravine 4 as in the hospital where the readings were taken. (Perhaps in the body bags for transport, the helicopter or the hospital/ morgue?.

My understanding is if the radiation happened at the 1079 at the location of the pass , the snow layer from the pass to the tent to the cedar would also be contaminated and the radiation particles , locked in that layer?

[Ziljoe]

Hmmmm.... I've found myself asking new questions and I cannot remember this concept being discussed. The soviet union ( as other countries) were doing nuclear tests. I've read that the fall out gets stuck in the snow layers and then ithe snow thaws and obviously channels to the streams and rivers. Could such fallout over a wide area be the concentration for the readings for the ravine 4 when the thaw occured? I don't know how such particles travel , especially in water , but could it be the water that actually contaminated the ravine 4 clothes?.

Here's a rough AI summary.


Based on historical data and environmental studies, Soviet nuclear activities in the late 1950s—specifically atmospheric tests at Novaya Zemlya and the 1957–1958 Kyshtym disaster—led to significant radioactive material being trapped in snow and ice, which subsequently concentrated in streams and rivers during spring snowmelt.
Key Findings on Radioactive Snow and Water Contamination
Arctic Glacier Contamination: Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests at the Novaya Zemlya site in 1958, among other years, released large amounts of radiation. Studies have confirmed that this radioactivity was deposited on Arctic ice and snow, becoming trapped within glacial layers.
Concentration in Meltwater: As glaciers and snowpack on Novaya Zemlya melt at increased speeds, they release this stored radioactivity. Researchers have found that in some areas, melted glacier water contained radiation levels that significantly exceeded baseline levels, with some areas of the glacier containing double the baseline radiation.
Radioactive Runoff: This phenomenon is part of a larger, ongoing release where "hot particles" and radionuclides (like strontium-90) from the 1950s/60s tests, which were stored in the snow and ice, are currently entering the Arctic Ocean and contaminating local water systems.
The Kyshtym Accident (1957–1958): In addition to weapons tests, a major nuclear waste storage explosion at the Mayak facility (Kyshtym disaster) in late 1957 occurred just before winter. The resulting radioactive plume (containing strontium-90 and cesium-137) settled over thousands of square kilometers in the Urals. The radioactive fallout, which fell during winter, became part of the snow cover, leading to high contamination levels in, rivers and streams (such as the Techa River) during the following spring thaw.
Impact on Human Life: The contamination of these water sources was so severe that it necessitated the evacuation of thousands of people and caused immediate radiation sickness in nearby villages.
Background on 1958 Tests
Operation Hardtack I & II: In 1958, both the U.S. and USSR were conducting intense testing. The Soviet tests at Novaya Zemlya often resulted in significant radioactive fallout, which was monitored by, among others, the Soviet State Meteorological Survey.
Fallout Trajectories: Studies of the 1958 tests showed that significant radioactive fallout traversed to the south as far as the Caspian Sea, while other plumes moved southeast toward the Sea of Okhotsk, leaving traces across large areas of the Soviet Union.
Conclusion
The combination of atmospheric tests at northern latitudes and the 1957 Kyshtym accident resulted in the entrapment of long-lived fission products in the winter snow. The subsequent melting of this snow acted as a conveyor for radionuclides, concentrating them in, rivers and streams and causing severe environmental and health risks throughout the region.

Could this be the basis of the silencing of ivanov and his readings? The USSR was supposed to be in a period of not testing nuclear weapons?

[Senior Maldonado]

Hmmmm.... I've found myself asking new questions and I cannot remember this concept being discussed. The soviet union ( as other countries) were doing nuclear tests. I've read that the fall out gets stuck in the snow layers and then ithe snow thaws and obviously channels to the streams and rivers. Could such fallout over a wide area be the concentration for the readings for the ravine 4 when the thaw occured? I don't know how such particles travel , especially in water , but could it be the water that actually contaminated the ravine 4 clothes?.

Contamination due to water in the creek can be ruled out safely.

First, the pattern of contamination does not match water flow direction. The most contaminated piece of clothes (pullover) was on Dubinina, who was the last in the flow. Bodies of Kolevatov, Zolotarev, Thibo protected her against the current. Clothes of those three should have absorbed more radioactive particles, than Dubinina's clothes. However, those two, who were in the middle,  absorbed much less than the first and the last in the stream.

Secondly, in Levasov's report on the Sheet 372 there is Table #2, where contamination of different bits of clothes is measured. We can see that item number 1 in the table is not a bit of cloth but rather a soil sample from under (or near) Kolevatov's body. And that soil sample is the only item in the table, which was not contaminated. How could it be that radioactive stream contaminated the hikers, who were there limited time, and did not contaminate soil, which was there all time?

[Senior Maldonado]

Surely the clothes could only have been contaminated pre hike  ,  before the hikers went to the  pass ,for example ,northern 2 or work environments , or post discovery of the ravine 4 as in the hospital where the readings were taken. (Perhaps in the body bags for transport, the helicopter or the hospital/ morgue?.

I would not be so sure.

If the clothes got contaminated pre hike, than Yury Youdin would have been the first to be tested for contamination. He had been in contact with the rest of the group members during the first days of the hike, and obviously he had good chance to get some amount of radioactive substance on his clothes and skin. But he had been never asked to do the test. Moreover, he had never suspected that radioactivity played any role in that case, until he got access to the case files in 1990s. There are no reports that hikers' relatives and friends in Sverdlovsk were tested either.

For post hike option it's even easier. If radioactive substance was in a helicopter, an airplane, truck, etc in May, than why did Ivanov and Kikoin bring radiation detector to the Pass in March? And if some radioactive stuff was in, say, helicopter, why should Ivanov care about that? If the helicopter's pilots were fine with radioactive cargo, probably level of radioactivity was low and not dangerous. Ivanov had no reason to divert from his investigation and spend time and efforts on the tests that bring no value to his investigation of the case.

[Ziljoe]

Hmmmm.... I've found myself asking new questions and I cannot remember this concept being discussed. The soviet union ( as other countries) were doing nuclear tests. I've read that the fall out gets stuck in the snow layers and then ithe snow thaws and obviously channels to the streams and rivers. Could such fallout over a wide area be the concentration for the readings for the ravine 4 when the thaw occured? I don't know how such particles travel , especially in water , but could it be the water that actually contaminated the ravine 4 clothes?.

Contamination due to water in the creek can be ruled out safely.

First, the pattern of contamination does not match water flow direction. The most contaminated piece of clothes (pullover) was on Dubinina, who was the last in the flow. Bodies of Kolevatov, Zolotarev, Thibo protected her against the current. Clothes of those three should have absorbed more radioactive particles, than Dubinina's clothes. However, those two, who were in the middle,  absorbed much less than the first and the last in the stream.

I was thinking that all the water could potentially be contaminated, who lay where in the water would have little relevance due to all the variables.

If the clothes were contaminated pre incident, then we would expect to see the results that were recorded. If the clothes were contaminated during the incident by rocket,ray gun or whatever, we would still expect the same results?.

If the surrounding area had nuclear fallout from testing in late1958 from the tests , could this not have been trapped in the snow layer on the mountains for the winter of 1958-1959 and then only released in the thaw of a spring dump into the creeks and rivers?.

Yes, the soil example tells us nothing, it doesn't say where it's from or it's volume. One would think they would have requested soil and snow from the area to test . The fact they went to the effort to find a neutral base measurement for the internal organs , I'm surprised they did not do the same for all the clothing.

[Ziljoe]

Surely the clothes could only have been contaminated pre hike  ,  before the hikers went to the  pass ,for example ,northern 2 or work environments , or post discovery of the ravine 4 as in the hospital where the readings were taken. (Perhaps in the body bags for transport, the helicopter or the hospital/ morgue?.

I would not be so sure.

If the clothes got contaminated pre hike, than Yury Youdin would have been the first to be tested for contamination. He had been in contact with the rest of the group members during the first days of the hike, and obviously he had good chance to get some amount of radioactive substance on his clothes and skin. But he had been never asked to do the test. Moreover, he had never suspected that radioactivity played any role in that case, until he got access to the case files in 1990s. There are no reports that hikers' relatives and friends in Sverdlovsk were tested either.

For post hike option it's even easier. If radioactive substance was in a helicopter, an airplane, truck, etc in May, than why did Ivanov and Kikoin bring radiation detector to the Pass in March? And if some radioactive stuff was in, say, helicopter, why should Ivanov care about that? If the helicopter's pilots were fine with radioactive cargo, probably level of radioactivity was low and not dangerous. Ivanov had no reason to divert from his investigation and spend time and efforts on the tests that bring no value to his investigation of the case.

They don't know if they clothes were contaminated pre hike , that's the point. Yuri Yudin could only have been used to see if he had any contamination on clothing pre hike but that wouldn't be conclusive if no readings were found, also it was now May and he had probably washed his clothes several times since January.

When you test for such things you can go through a process of elimination and they did not seem to . The only mention of radioactive readings is that done in May in the lab.

I don't know if Ivanov and Kikoin brought a radiation detector to the Pass in March? I don't think anyone knows this and there's no reported readings in the case files?

I would think any potential post contamination is important to the investigation because it could explain the readings!? . The readings are reported as ;
"The analyzed samples of clothing carry slightly excessive amounts of radioactive substances being the source of Beta-emission."

They say "slightly excessive " but also muse that given the three hour wash that they did in the tests, it suggests that the radiation may have been much higher .

Some of the clothing on the hikers could have been sitting out of the water , it's not a thorough investigation in the slightest when some old piece of canvas used to transport rotting corpses could have been contaminated. I would suspect and it's difficult to tell from the photo's, that some material was used to wrap up the ravine 4 on to the sleds that were used to drag them up to boot rock for loading onto the helicopter. This material could have been lying about anywhere exposed to the elements and used by the military or air force?.

[Senior Maldonado]

If the surrounding area had nuclear fallout from testing in late1958 from the tests , could this not have been trapped in the snow layer on the mountains for the winter of 1958-1959 and then only released in the thaw of a spring dump into the creeks and rivers?.

As the author of this thread has explained, when a nuclear device is blasted a cocktail of isotopes is released. Nuclear explosion should produce all kind of emitters - alpha, beta. gamma. I assume that expert Levashov was a real professional, not an amateur. He would have detected alpha and gamma, if they had been present. Also, Ivanov in his article commented that "As a prosecutor who at that time had to deal with some secret defense issues, I rejected the version of the atomic weapon test in this zone." And general observation - Soviets were not nice, but even they would not have gone for nuclear tests in populated area. Yes, the area was low populated, but still Mansi, geologists, prisoners in detention camps had to be considered.

[Missi]

Ziljoe, I think you might be right about the thawing snow and the fallout. Yet then the fallout must be from winter 58/59. There were no glaciers thawing like today back then. And thus said, in that scenario Mayak is no possible source. It might be, if we're talking other forms of contamination.

The idea of contamination upon transport is also interesting, I think.

I don't remember any mention of Geiger Counters on site. Can someone point me in the right direction?

And general observation - Soviets were not nice, but even they would not have gone for nuclear tests in populated area. Yes, the area was low populated, but still Mansi, geologists, prisoners in detention camps had to be considered.

A few weeks ago, I would have agreed. Since then, I watched documentaries about the contamination of the river Techa and how people fight for their surviving, about the Aral sea and the experiments on the Island of... uhm... forgot the name, sorry. I learned about the island in Siberia, where they wanted to have people build a new gulag and ended up with them killing and eating one another. I learned about a lake that had to be covered by concrete, because it fell dry and was so unbelievable contaminated by radioactivity, that the dust off its ground was poison for everyone near.
The government of the USSR was not nice to people nor to nature. It left immensely contaminated areas. It left ill people that still are not properly cared for. And it didn't care about people being hurt in the wake of progression!
This by the way is why I am strongly opposed to any theory of the government covering up what happened, because in my experience they would only have stated their narrative and anyone who disagreed and stated differently would have found themselves in a gulag shortly after. I believe, I already said that recently...

Anyway, this is no Russia-bashing or USSR-bashing, other governments are not better, there are many proves of that, too.

[Ziljoe]

Ziljoe, I think you might be right about the thawing snow and the fallout. Yet then the fallout must be from winter 58/59. There were no glaciers thawing like today back then. And thus said, in that scenario Mayak is no possible source. It might be, if we're talking other forms of contamination.

The idea of contamination upon transport is also interesting, I think.

I don't remember any mention of Geiger Counters on site. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks Missi , my thinking is that is that they were not testing anywhere near 1079 , it's just the natural wind in the upper atmosphere carrying the waste. It may have come down over much of the land of the USSR and it's when the snow melts and not glaciers in the north. Just potential fallout as the streams seem to be the collecting points which makes sense.  Just a thought.

Background on 1958 Tests
Operation Hardtack I & II: In 1958, both the U.S. and USSR were conducting intense testing. The Soviet tests at Novaya Zemlya often resulted in significant radioactive fallout, which was monitored by, among others, the Soviet State Meteorological Survey.
Fallout Trajectories: Studies of the 1958 tests showed that significant radioactive fallout traversed to the south as far as the Caspian Sea, while other plumes moved southeast toward the Sea of Okhotsk, leaving traces across large areas of the Soviet Union.


We can see there's a piece of canvas or tarp over the ravine when they are removing the ravine 4 so would suspect there was lots of old tarps used in the search. Just a possibility that this or these materials had been passed from pillar to post in use. I would suspect they would have been used in many exposed areas and possibly military resource stock. Only thoughts .

Some one does mention a dosimeter being brought to the pass early in the search but I think it's a post interview and not the case files. It doesn't state for a fact that it was , it was assumed and said to be heard clicking .

[Missi]

I'd rather say, that the fallout reaching as far as the pass would be much less. But that's just my feeling, based on the fact, that tests as well as kyshtym were not chernobyl, as bad as those were, the fallout was rather restricted, areawise. We'd have to check that out, though.

The tarp thingy is an interesting idea. Gotta look into that.

As for the last part: A dosimeter is not a Geiger Counter. The difference - well, one - is that the dosimeter only shows when a certain amount of radiation was exceeded, whereas the Geiger Counter measures the area and gives distinct measurements. Plus: The dosimeter can't be reset, it measures everything from the beginning of its life until its end.
So firstly, it won't click. Secondly, even if one would show exceeded measurements, we'd still need to verify, it was fresh and didn't measure radiation somewhere else already.
It might be just a lack of knowledge in what things are called, especially if the one stating that exact thing wasn't very knowledgeable according to radioactivity and the like. It might also be someone telling stories without knowing exactly what would be plausible... 

[Ziljoe]

I'd rather say, that the fallout reaching as far as the pass would be much less. But that's just my feeling, based on the fact, that tests as well as kyshtym were not chernobyl, as bad as those were, the fallout was rather restricted, areawise. We'd have to check that out, though.

The tarp thingy is an interesting idea. Gotta look into that.

As for the last part: A dosimeter is not a Geiger Counter. The difference - well, one - is that the dosimeter only shows when a certain amount of radiation was exceeded, whereas the Geiger Counter measures the area and gives distinct measurements. Plus: The dosimeter can't be reset, it measures everything from the beginning of its life until its end.
So firstly, it won't click. Secondly, even if one would show exceeded measurements, we'd still need to verify, it was fresh and didn't measure radiation somewhere else already.
It might be just a lack of knowledge in what things are called, especially if the one stating that exact thing wasn't very knowledgeable according to radioactivity and the like. It might also be someone telling stories without knowing exactly what would be plausible... 

Agree on everything you you said.

The fallout seems to travel thousands of miles so is a possibility but I don't know about beta etc . Something I'll look into at a later date.

Yes, the dosimeter is a very different thing and concept. I'll find the link as I mentioned  this a few months ago and I to asked the forum for the evidence of a Geiger counter at dyatlov pass. I think it's one of these exaggerated stories. If they were willing to print the readings from the ravine 4 clothes , then why not any readings from the pass? ..

As far as I understand it , the reason for the testing of the clothes for radiation is that some third party said ivanovs lawyer said that Ivanov saw the clothes glowing in a room.

That's the reason given and it's post incident by many years by a third party ?. As far as I understand , radiative material doesn't just glow ? It's a modern joke through cartoons and such.

There was some guy ( German I think) that invented or found a way to test for blood on victims with certain chemicals ( I've posted this before but have forgotten the details) . I think it needs a UV light and the old blood stains glow . I was thinking this might be what was seen and ivanov may have misunderstood.

The problem with the whole case is that that every media outlet has had quoted anyone that has forwarded with any fantasy and printed it without proof.?.  We then all think because it's from a news paper that someone did the research but as we know , newspapers are only interested in selling newspapers, ( or digital content with adverts)

[Missi]

Well, I know for sure, that radiation can cause glowing, as for example the blueish glow in water. But that's a whole different thing. I'm pretty sure radiation does not glow in the dark. At least not visible enough for human eyes to clearly see.
The idea of UV activated glowing blood stains is a good idea, though. The chemical substance is called luminol (at least in German). It was first used in Germany in the 1930s. It seems to not be completely sure from when on it was used in the USSR, but post war USSR probably used it. (Summery of perplexity, not otherwise verified)
I really like that trail of thinking...

And you're definitely right with the influence of papers and the like. That whole story is one single clusterfuck (as my husband would call it). There are no investigative photos (mostly photos of the search team, not of the officials), there are things that were left out of the initial files and added later, there are contradicting statements from the actual time and several people and there are statements when people contradict their own statements later in life after having things forgotten, reimagined or maybe were ordered to correct themselves or decided the time was right to right what they wrongly stated at the time after being ordered to. And one does not know, what to believe and what not.