November 2017
Geiger Readings for Nov 22, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 95 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 173 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 165 nanosieverts per hour
Cloud Of Ru-106 Over Europe In Early October May Have Come From A Russian Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facility
I recently posted an article about the detection of a cloud of ruthernium-106, a radioisotope used for medical treatment, over Europe in early October of this year.
Geiger Readings for Nov 21, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 110 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 324 - There May Have Been A Nuclear Fission Reaction At Chernobyl In 1986
In 1986 near the Ukrainian town of Pripyat in northeastern Ukraine at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, there was a major nuclear accident. Safety systems had been turned off in order to carry out a test of emergency cooling systems. A number of such tests had been carried out in previous years and the systems failed to perform as expected.
Geiger Readings for Nov 20, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 94 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for Nov 19, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 64 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 67 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for Nov 18, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 63 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 62 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 104 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Weapons 324 - Russia Upgrades The Tupolov TU-160 Strategic Nuclear Bomber
The TU-160 is a Soviet Era heavy strategic nuclear bomber that debuted in the 1980s during the period that preceded the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There was limited production of this plane due to the collapse. Sixteen of these aircraft are still in operation today. They were modified to carry long-range cruise missiles in 2005.
Geiger Readings for Nov 17, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 76 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 117 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 113 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Weapons 323 - Air Force Wants To Speed Up Work On New ICBM And Cruise Missile
Last August, the Pentagon awarded contracts to begin designing new components for proposed weapons systems. A new ICBM and a new cruise missile will play the same role in our nuclear arsenal as the missiles they are replacing. They are expected to be operational in the late 2020s.
Geiger Readings for Nov 16, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 86 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 74 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Radioactive Waste 325 - Japanese Researhers Are Developing A Method To Reduce The Half-life Of Toxic Radioisotopes In Spent Nuclear Fuel
I often return to the problem of radioactive waste disposal in this blog. In the U.S. alone, the cooling pools at nuclear reactor sites are rapidly filling up with spent nuclear fuel rods. The soonest that the U.S. will have a permanent geological repository for spent nuclear fuel is estimated to be 2050.