November 2014
Geiger Readings for November 21, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 83 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 177 - U.S. Mixed Oxide Fuel Plant is Behind Schedule and Over Budget
As part of nuclear disarmament, Russia and the U.S. agreed to convert the plutonium in many of their nuclear warheads into fuel for nuclear reactors. The plutonium is mixed with uranium to dilute it producing what is called Mixed Oxide fuel (MOX). For fifteen years, plutonium warheads from Russia were converted to nuclear fuel to burn in U.S. nuclear power reactors.
Geiger Readings for November 20, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 129 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Radioactive Waste 109 - Incompetance and Dishonesty at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Caused Accident at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
I have blogged several times about the accidents and radiation releases at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The WIPP is the single repository for wastes from nuclear weapons development and manufacture in the U.S.
Geiger Readings for November 19, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 83 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Canada is Working On Creating Molybdenum-99 Without the Use of Nuclear Reactors
Yesterday, I blogged about a loan program at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration aimed at the development of domestic sources of Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), a radioactive isotope that is critical for most medical imaging systems. Mo-99 has a half-life of about three days. Then it decays into technetium-99 which is the isotope that is actually used in medical imaging.
Geiger Readings for November 18, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 71 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 74 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 80 nanosieverts per hour
The U.S. Department of Energy is Funding Research into Domestic Production of Molybdenum-99
Most of my posts have been about nuclear chemistry, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and radioactive threats to health and the environment. There is another sector of the nuclear industry that I have covered briefly that has to do with the production and utilization of specific radioisotopes for a wide variety of purposes.
Geiger Readings for November 17, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 121 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 68 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for November 16, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 71 nanosieverts per hour
Radiation News Roundup November 15, 2014
Nuclear cleanup at Fukushima plant stymied by water woes. ajw.ashani.com
Geiger Readings for November 15, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 88 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 81 nanosieverts per hour
The International Energy Agency Issues Annual World Energy Outlook Report
There is a great deal of uncertainty about the future of nuclear power. On one side, the critics point to problems at nuclear power plants, lax regulation, environmental and health dangers, problems of waste disposal and dangers of proliferation.