October 2013
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 10, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 67 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = 74 nanosieverts per hour
Banana from QFC = 67 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 127 nanosieverts per hour
Filtered water = 111 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 63 - Nuclear Breeder Reactors 4 - Thermal Breeder Reactors
Recently, I have been focusing on nuclear breeder reactors which can generate more fissile material than they burn. Today I am going to talk about thermal breeder reactors (TBR). These reactors utilize moderated neutrons which have been slowed down by some moderator.
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 9, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 84 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = 114 nanosieverts per hour
Crimini Mushrooms from Top Foods = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Filtered water = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 62 - Nuclear Breeder Reactors 3 - Fast Breeder Reactors
Recently, I have been focusing on nuclear breeder reactors which can generate more fissile material than they burn. These reactors can create weapons grade plutonium, generate electrical power and burn nuclear waste. Today I am going to talk about fast breeder reactors (FBR). These reactors utilize unmoderated neutrons which have not been slowed down by some moderator.
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on April 8, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 92 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Frozen salmon from Costco= 90 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 125 nanosieverts per hour
Filtered water = 105 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 61 - Nuclear Breeder Reactors 2
In my last post, I talked about breeder reactors in general terms. There is renewed interest in this category of reactors which can burn many kinds of fuel and can generate more fissile materials than they consume. Today I will delve a little deeper into the subcategories of breeder reactors.
Geiger Readings for October 7, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 113 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 112 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 86 nanosieverts per hour
Bartlett pear from Top Foods = 113 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 59 nanosieverts per hour
Filtered water = 50 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for October 6, 2013
Radiation News Roundup October 6, 2013
Ambient office = 119 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 116 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Vine ripened tomato from Top Foods = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Filtered water = 77 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for October 5, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = .119 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .116 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .085 microsieverts per hour
Mango from Top Foods = .093 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .097 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .077 microsieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 60 - Nuclear Breeder Reactors 1
I have mentioned breeder reactors several times in recent posts so I decided that I should go into detail about exactly what a breeder reactor is. Basically a breeder reactor generates more than enough neutrons to generate power. The extra neutrons create more fissile materials in the reactor. The net result is that breeder reactors actually generate more radioactive materials than they consume.
Geiger Readings for October 4, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = .089 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .113 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .106 microsieverts per hour
Mango from Top Foods = .098 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .074 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .064 microsieverts per hour
NASA is Running Low on Plutonium
In my last post, I talked about how the U.S. had been converting uranium for old Soviet warheads into nuclear fuel for U.S. nuclear reactors. There are also other radioactive isotopes that the U.S. is buying from Russia.