January 2018
Geiger Readings for Jan 24, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 146 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 148 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Weapons 339 - There May Have Been A Nuclear Test Between South Africa And Antarctica In 1979
In 1959, a small research U.S. program called the Vela Project was begun. In 1963, the Partial Test Ban Treaty went into effect. Eventually the Vela Hotel satellites were launch in order to monitor the Earth for signs of nuclear test explosions. This was done in order to ensure that the Soviet Union was complying with the treaty.
Geiger Readings for Jan 23, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 77 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 78 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Weapons 338 - The Supersonic Low Altitude Missile That Never Was
Since the dawn of the Atomic Age at the end of World War II, there have been a lot of nuclear weapons designed and built. Even a limited nuclear war could have catastrophic consequences and we have been fortunate, indeed, to have escaped such a war so far. In addition to the weapons that have been built, other nuclear weapon designs have been propose but never actually constructed.
Geiger Readings for Jan 22, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 112 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for Jan 21, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 126 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 119 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 119 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for Jan 20, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 135 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 84 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Weapons 337 - Australians Debating The Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons
The global nuclear club is a small one. There are nine countries that have nuclear weapons. Over one hundred and twenty other nations have recently endorsed an international treaty to ban all nuclear weapons.
Geiger Readings for Jan 19, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 102 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 105 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 107 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Reactors 542 - Dangers Of Shortage Of Molybdenum-99 For Medical Imaging
I have blogged before about critical radioactive isotopes used in medical diagnosis and procedures. One of the most important is molybdenum-99. It decays to technetium-99 which has a short halflife and other isotopes. Technetium-99 is injected into patients as a radiotracer for medical imaging of tumors.
Geiger Readings for Jan 18, 2017
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 135 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 158 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 158 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Weapons 336 - The New Nuclear Posture Review Says That The U.S. Might Use Nuclear Weapons In Retaliation For Cyberattacks
Recently I posted about the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review. This review is held every eight years to reexamine the U.S. policy with respect to the use of nuclear weapons. There is a draft of the NPR for 2018 but it has not been approved yet by the President. The current discussion of the U.S. nuclear policy is based on the draft.