August 2013

We have all seen movies where they thought that they had killed the monster when suddenly it pops up again. It was generally believed that the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository in Nevada had been permanently cancelled and, to abuse the metaphor, it was dead. Now it seems that reports of its death may have been premature. Recently a federal appeals court has decided to resurrect the beast.

Ambient office = .067 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .138 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .101 microsieverts per hour

Locally baked ciabatta bread from local grocery =  .123 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .129 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .124 microsieverts per hour

Will the Unit 1 reactor at Fukushima become a future tourist spot? japantoday.com

       I have blogged before about the U.S. Department of Energy’s permanent defense related nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. It is located about twenty six miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico in an area that contains several other nuclear facilities. It is the only permanent deep geological nuclear waste repository in the United States since the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain Repository project in Nevada a few years ago.

Ambient office = .079 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .109 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .102 microsieverts per hour

Banana from local grocery store =  .121 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .145 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .113 microsieverts per hour

Ambient office = .081 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .070 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .063 microsieverts per hour

Iceberg lettuce from Costco =  .138 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .104 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .088 microsieverts per hour

Ambient office = .116 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .087 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .98 microsieverts per hour

Romaine lettuce from Costco =  .139 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .072 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .066 microsieverts per hour

Japan has established a new research body which it hopes will bring together international experience in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. world-nuclear-news.org

     Part 1 of 3     

              I have been blogging a lot lately about problems with radioactive contamination in Seattle and at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Many other states have their own problems with contamination left over from nuclear research and processing. However, I was astonished at the casual attitude that governed the handling of nuclear materials and radioactive waste at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) near Santa Monica, California.