Inexpensive Geiger counters can be purchased for around $200. If you would rather build your own Geiger counter, there are a number of sources for instruction and kits.

            Images Scientific Instruments has a website that offers kits for sale to build digital Geiger counters, PC based Geiger counters, analog meter Geiger counter and analog Geiger counters. Starting with the simplest models that indicate emitted radioactive particles by clicking sounds and blinking LED and moving through digital displays and meters to free PC programs, there is a range of instruments at a range of prices.

            There is a website that promotes a Geiger counter project called Mr. Fission. The counter indicates emitted radioactive particles by audible clicks, digital numerical display and LCD bar chart display. The site discusses how a hardware hacker built his own Geiger counter from scratch. He is working on a kit that people will be able to buy to build their own. He hopes to be able to use readily available parts that will cost under $20. The Geiger-Müller tube will have to be purchased separately.

            Galactic Electronics has a Geiger counter project webpage. The counter indicates emitted radioactive particles by audible clicks. They list the common electronic parts that are needed, provide a schematic of the electronic circuit and give detailed instructions. They suggest going to the surplus market to get the Geiger-Müller tube to keep the cost down.

            Russell E. Clift has posted a webpage for a Bargraph Geiger Counter project. It displays radiation events in a bar graph format as suggested by the name. He provides details of how the counter operates, has a circuit diagram that can be expanded into a larger picture, lists all the parts needed and gives detailed instructions on how to build his counter .. He also includes a section on testing and calibration. Kits for the counter can be purchased from Allegro Electronic Systems.

            Anything Radioactive is a English website sells a lot of different Geiger Counters including a watch that registers gamma radiation. They have a DIY kit from Japan called the Air Geiger Counter. It shows radioactive events on an LCD display. One interesting thing about this kit is that they show you how to construct the Geiger-Muller tube itself which is the heart of a Geiger counter. All the materials and parts are common and readily available.  There is free software available for use on a PC with the completed kit. This company also sells Geiger-Müller tubes which could be used with some of the other projects listed in this post.

Kits USA has the C-6979 Sensitive Geiger Counter Kit for sale. It uses a Russian Geiger-Müller tube. It senses gamma and beta radiation and responds with clicks and flashes of an LED. They provide all parts including the tube and full instructions.

            All of these kits assume that you are able to follow instructions for constructing electronic devices and that you are able to solder components onto a circuit board correctly.

Images Scientific Instruments GCK -O1 circuit board:

 

The following list covers radioisotopes created in nuclear reactors by neutron flux for nuclear medicine.

Bismuth-213 has a half life of 46 minutes. It is used for Targeted Alpha Therapy.

Chromium-51 has a half life of 28 days. It is used to label red blood cells and quantify gastro-intestinal protein loss.

Cobalt-60 has a half life of 10.5 months. It is used for external beam radiotherapy.

Copper-64 has a half life of 13 hours. It is used to study genetic diseases affecting copper metabolism.

Dysprosium-165 has a half life of 2 hours. It is used as an aggregated hydroxide for synovectomy treatment of arthritis.

Erbium-169 has a half life of 9.4 days. It is used for relieving arthritis pain in synovial joints.

Holmium-166 has a half life of 26 hours. It is used for diagnosis and treatment of liver tumors.

Iodine-125 has a half life of 60 days. It is used in cancer therapy where a radioactive pellet is implanted in the prostate gland or the brain. It is also used diagnostically to evaluate the filtration rate of kidneys and to diagnose deep vein thrombosis in the leg. It is can also be used to detect tiny amounts of hormones.

Iodine-131 has a half life of 8 days. It is used in treating thyroid cancer and in imaging the thyroid. It is also used in diagnosis of abnormal liver function, kidney blood flow and urinary tract obstruction.

Iridium-192 has a half life of 74 days. It is used in the form of a wire for internal implantation for cancer treatment.

Iron-59 has a half life of 46 days. It is used in studies of iron metabolism in the spleen.

Lutetium-177 has a half life of 6.7 days. It is used in therapy on small tumors found in endocrine glands.

Molybdenum-99 has a half life of 66 hours. It is used to produce technetium-99m.

Palladium-103 has a half life of 17 days. It is used to make permanent implant seeds for early stage prostate cancer treatment.

Phosphorus-32 has a half life of 14 days. It is used in the treatment of a condition involving excess red blood cells.

Potassium-42 has a half life of 12 hours. It is used for the evaluation of exchangeable potassium in coronary blood flow.

Rhenium-186 has a half life of 3.8 days. It is used for pain relief in bone cancer.

Rhenium-188 has a half life of 17 hours. It is used to irradiate coronary arteries from an angioplasty balloon.

Samarium-153 has a half life of 47 hours. It is used to relieve the pain of secondary cancers in the bones. It is also effective for pain caused by prostate and breast cancer.

Selenium-75 has a half life of 120 days. It is used to study the production of digestive enzymes.

Sodium-24 has a half life of 15 hour. It is used for studies of electrolytes in the body.

Strontium-89 has a half life of 50 days. It is used to reduce the pain of prostate and bone cancer.

Technetium-99m has a half life of 6 hours. It is used in to image the skeleton, heart muscles, brain, thyroid, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys gall bladder, bone marrow, salivary and tear glands.

Xenon-133 has a half life of 5 days. It is used for lung ventilation studies.

Ytterbium-169 has a half life of 32 days. It is used for cerebrospinal fluid studies in the brain.

Yttrium-90 has a half life of 64 hours. It is used for cancer therapy by implantation in large joints for the relief of the pain of arthritis. 

 

The image below shows a catheter inserting a radioactive wire into a tumor.

 

            Nuclear medicine employees radioisotopes to diagnose or treat illnesses. Radioisotopes are isotopes of elements which are unstable and prone to radioactive decay during which they may emit alpha, beta and/or gamma radiation. There are over two hundred radioisotopes in commercial use today. Most of these isotopes are manufactured in nuclear reactors by neutron activation.  Extra neutrons are inserted into the nucleus. This does not change the element. The other method of production involves inserting protons into the nucleus in a cyclotron. This results in a change in the type of element. Nuclear medicine was developed in the 1950s in the field of endocrinology with the use of iodine-131 to diagnose and treat thyroid disease. Today, over ten thousand hospitals in the world use radioisotopes.

Diagnosis

            Ninety percent of the radioisotopes are used for diagnosis, primarily to aid in imaging specific organs. Short lived radioisotope that emit gamma radiation are linked to specific chemical compounds that are involved in particular physiological processes in the body. These tracers are injected, inhaled or swallowed to be taken up by a targeted organ.

            In one type of procedure, individual gamma photons are registered one by one to build up a picture of the organ which is then computer enhanced and reviewed for signs of abnormalities. Another procedure called Positron Emission Tomography (PET), an positron emitting isotope created in a cyclotron is injected and accumulates in the targeted organ. Positron are the antimatter version of the electron. When they are emitted, they combine with an electron and both are annihilated releasing a pair of gamma photons. The PET camera detects these gamma photons with great accuracy. PET scans are mostly used for tumor detection but can be used in cardiac and brain imaging. Flourine-18 is the most effective radioisotope for this purpose. Organ malfunction can be indicated by either too much or too little of the isotope being taken up by part of the organ or the whole organ.

Therapy

            Cancer cells divide rapidly and are especially susceptible to damage by radiation. A beam of gamma photons from a cobalt-60 radiation source can be directed into the body at a tumor for treatment.

            An alternative to an external radiation source is to implant small radiation source directly into the tumor. Iodine-131 is used for treating thyroid cancer with this method. Iridium-192 implants are often used in the head or the breast. The isotopes are in the form a wire that is inserted with a catheter.

            Radiation is also used to destroy bone marrow before a bone marrow transplant. Radiation is also used to relieve pain from bone cancer. Strontium-89, samarium-153 and rhenium-186 can all be used for this purpose.

            A new procedure called Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) has been developed for treating dispersed cancers. It uses radioisotopes which emit alpha particles. Another new procedure called Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) relies on brain tumors concentrating boron-10. Once the boron-10 is in place, thermal neutrons irradiate the tumor and cause the boron to emit alpha particles. More esoteric therapies are being developed such as the use of carbon 60 buckyball spheres to carry radioactive particles into tumors.

            The use of radioisotopes in medicine has been very successful for diagnostic and treatment of a number of different diseases and will continue to evolve.

            The Washington State government has established rules for dealing with radioactive materials. These rules are in the Washington Administrative Code (WAS) which contains regulations issued by the Executive Branch of the Washington State government as instructed by enabling statutes. In general states must conform to national standards laid down by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) which licenses companies to handle radioactive materials.

            WAC 296-62-09004 was issued by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries with regard to general industrial use of radioactive materials. The regulations begin with a glossary of terms and a section the gives details of how to measure exposure. Special attention is dedicated to the hazard of exposure to neutron flux. It instructs that all radioactive materials must be registered with the state.

            The WAC sets limits for exposure of employees to radioactivity per calendar quarter and requires. Limits are set for exposure to airborne radioactivity in a calendar quarter. Exposure is strictly limited to a very low level for anyone under eighteen. Personal exposure devices are to be worn by all employees who use or might be exposed to radioactive materials. Detailed records of all activities involving handling of and/or exposure to radioactive materials. Strict standards are set for the instruction of employees in dangers of radioactivity, proper handling techniques for radioactive materials, emergency and evacuation procedures.

            Standards are set for signs to designate radioactive materials, radiation area, high radiation area and airborne radioactivity area. The signs employ the standard radiation symbol and contain the word “Caution.” Control systems are required which can quickly reduce raised levels of radioactivity to acceptable levels. If such reduction is not possible, then an alarm must be triggered. Specifications for an evacuation alarm system are set with designated frequencies and loudness levels. The alarms must be protected as much as possible from being disabled by fire or and flood and must have emergency backup power which will kick in if power to the whole facility is lost.

            Facilities must report any incidents in which individuals not covered by the Nuclear Regulatory standards for employees may have been exposed to radioactivity while in the facility or any incidences in which property may have been damaged by radioactivity in excess of a value of $100,000.

            Permissible radon gas levels in uranium mines must be maintained by ventilation systems and detailed records of radon gas levels in the mine must be kept. Records must be kept of the time each miner spends in the mine.

            WAC 296-155-150 was issued by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries with regard to the construction industry. It states that construction activities must follow NRC rules with respect to occupational exposure to radioactivity. Further, it requires that anyone handling such materials must be trained in the NRC rules and procedures.

There is a Google interactive map for monitoring the release radioactivity from accidents at nuclear power plants and other nuclear faclities. It was started after the Fukushima disaster to help people monitory the spread of radioactive materials from the destroyed reactors at Fukushima.

Most of the monitors are in Japan or the continental United States although there area  few locations tagged in Europe.  

            There are four icons that used on the map.

 The atomic icon indicates a nuclear facility of some sort. When you click on an icon, a popup window shows the name of the facility and a list of recent incidents with the most recent at the top.

The box contains links that you can use to visit sites that reported the incidents.

 The upside down blue teardrop icon indicates a radioactivity monitoring station. When you click on an icon, a popup box appears that identifies the monitoring station.

Some monitoring stations also provide a link to a live streaming video channel for the monitoring station.

On the left of the display is the face of a handheld Geiger counter. The Inspector is the most sensitive pocket Geiger counter available. It has a large detector to increase sensitivity. The Inspector includes an output port that can send a real-time data feed to a computer. It can be set to display detected radiation in a number of different systems to units. The detection events shown in the picture above are in counter per minute. The display on the right shows the date, time, temperature, air pressure and humidity.

 The wave form icon indicates the location of a recent earthquake.

If you click on an icon, you get a popup box that gives you details on the earthquake. The tsunami that caused the flooding at Fukushima was triggered by a nearby earthquake. Another quake in the same area could drain the spent fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4 and cause a world wide catastrophe. A number of other nuclear power plants in the world are located near active geological faults. Earthquakes are extremely relevant to the danger of major nuclear accidents.

The skull and crossbones icon indicates the location of a recent radiological incident. When you click on an icon, a popup box gives you details on the incident.

 The volcano icon indicates the location of a volcano.

If you click on the icon, a popup box will appear that contains information about the volcano such as recent eruptions. There is also a link to a Wikipedia page about the volcano. Nuclear reactors near volcanoes are rare but they do exist and a major eruptions could lead to a serious nuclear accident.

            The Google map page contains a list on the left side of the screen of all the different locations for facilities, monitors, earthquakes, major incidents and volcanoes that are displayed on the map. Google maps allow users to set up this kind of interactive maps for different purposes. They provide video tutorials that instruct users how to set up such maps

 

            In Washington State, the Environmental Sciences Section (ESS) of the State Department of Health is responsible for environmental radiation monitoring. They monitor potential radiation release from facilities in Washington State that have radioactive materials. Even if there is no potential for release of radioactive materials into the environment around a facility, monitoring is still conducted in the facility.  Some of the facilities that are monitored are listed below.

            The Dawn Mining Company is a uranium mill located in Ford, Washington northwest of Spokane. It processed uranium from the Midnight mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Since the mill was shut down and processing halted, the millsite has proceed with decommissioning which includes demolition of site buildings, contaminated soil removal and contaminated ground water remediation.

            Areva Richland is a company in Richland, Washington that deals with the whole nuclear fuel cycle with emphasis on fuel production. They load fuel rods with radioactive pellets for use in pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors. They also deal with packaging and transport of spent fuel rods.

            Unitech Services Group is has a facility located in Richland, Washington. They provided radiological laundering services and protective clothing for handling radioactive materials. They also provide other safety gear such as respirators, goggles, boots, gloves, sorbents, soaps, showers, etc. to deal with radioactive materials. They have decontaminate tools and other metals items as well as HEPA air filter units.

            The Puget Sound Navel Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington must deal with nuclear submarines and is included in the Sections monitoring responsibilities.

            The Hanford Nuclear site contains operating nuclear facilities and a great deal of stored solid and liquid nuclear materials. Hanford has been dealt with in other posts on this blog.

            Energy Northwest is a utility company near Richland, Washington which operates commercial nuclear power reactors that feed power into the Washington power grid.

            The Trojan Nuclear Reactor site has been decommissioned but still has some spent nuclear fuel on site which must be monitored.

            The Washington ESS also hosts the Quality Assurance Task Force which works to improve environmental radiation monitoring programs used by various organizations in Washington State. The task force verifies accuracy of monitoring, coordinates sampling, analysis and reporting, improves resource utilization, maintains credibility, disseminates information and encourages public awareness.

            The  Washington ESS operates four environmental radiological monitoring stations as part of the United States EPA nationwide RadNet monitoring system.

            The Washington ESS has been charged with dealing with radon issues in Washington State. Radon is a noble gas that is released from soil and can concentrate in buildings. It is present in concrete, granite, brick and other stone materials used in building and furnishings. It is the number two cause of lung cancer in the United States.

            The Washington ESS protects the public from airborne radioactivity by enforcing federal and state standards for radioactive air emissions. Authority to inspect, review plans and license facilities is delegated by the US EPA and compliance is necessary to insure continued federal funding of many state programs.

 

 

            The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a radiation monitoring website called RadNet. From the homepage:

 

            “The nationwide RadNet system monitors the nation’s air, drinking water, precipitation, and pasteurized milk to determine levels of radiation in the environment. RadNet sample analyses and monitoring results provide baseline data on background levels of radiation in the environment and can detect increased radiation from radiological incidents.”

 

            From the RadNet FAQ:

 

            “RadNet is the only nationwide system that continuously monitors of ambient environmental radiation levels and those resulting from major nuclear accidents, such as the Fukushima nuclear reactor incident in Japan. RadNet data are used to inform the public, providing assurance if contamination levels are very low or helping to make science-based decisions about taking protective actions if contamination levels are high enough to warrant them.”

 

            The EPA has thirty locations where they take samples of rain, snow or sleet monthly and forward it to their lab to test it for gamma radiation. The sampling locations have been selected to give comprehensive and representative coverage of precipitation in the U.S. There are also 30 stations where milk samples are being taken quarterly and sent to the lab to be tested for gamma radiation as well as fission products such as iodine-131, barium-140 and cesium-137. Finally, the EPS takes drinking water samples from fifty sites across the U.S. quarterly and tests the samples for fission products.

          The results from these analyses are provided in a database called Envirofacts.  The first search parameter is the location.

   

The location input field will allow selection by state, city & state or EPA region.

 

 

Second, you need to select what you want to see results for which they call Media.

 

The Media field will allow selection of rain, milk, drinking water or air-filter.

 

The next field lets you select a particular radioisotope.

A selection of radioactive isotopes is presented.

 

 

And finally, you can choose which years you want information for.

 

Here is a set of search parameters.

You are given a choice of output units, either traditional units called picocuries or international system units called Becquerels.

          Here is the results of the above search on Envirofacts.

 

Here are the results for Denver, Colorado in a search for Cesium-137 in precipitation.

 

 

            The main purpose of the RadNet monitoring is to establish a base line for normal background radiation across the United States in monitor the air, rain, drinking water and milk for radiation above the safe levels due to nuclear explosions or radiation accidents at reactors.

            The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a radiation monitoring website called RadNet. From the homepage:

 

            “The nationwide RadNet system monitors the nation’s air, drinking water, precipitation, and pasteurized milk to determine levels of radiation in the environment. RadNet sample analyses and monitoring results provide baseline data on background levels of radiation in the environment and can detect increased radiation from radiological incidents.”

 

            From the RadNet FAQ:

 

            “RadNet is the only nationwide system that continuously monitors of ambient environmental radiation levels and those resulting from major nuclear accidents, such as the Fukushima nuclear reactor incident in Japan. RadNet data are used to inform the public, providing assurance if contamination levels are very low or helping to make science-based decisions about taking protective actions if contamination levels are high enough to warrant them.”

 

            The EPA has thirty locations where they take samples of rain, snow or sleet monthly and forward it to their lab to test it for gamma radiation. The sampling locations have been selected to give comprehensive and representative coverage of precipitation in the U.S. There are also 30 stations where milk samples are being taken quarterly and sent to the lab to be tested for gamma radiation as well as fission products such as iodine-131, barium-140 and cesium-137. Finally, the EPS takes drinking water samples from fifty sites across the U.S. quarterly and tests the samples for fission products.

          The results from these analyses are provided in a database called Envirofacts.  The first search parameter is the location.

          1

The location input field will allow selection by state, city & state or EPA region.

 

2

 

Second, you need to select what you want to see results for which they call Media.

 

3

The Media field will allow selection of rain, milk, drinking water or air-filter.

4

 

The next field lets you select a particular radioisotope.

5

A selection of radioactive isotopes is presented.

 

6

 

And finally, you can choose which years you want information for.

 

7

Here is a set of search parameters.

8

You are given a choice of output units, either traditional units called picocuries or international system units called Becquerels.

9

          Here is the results of the above search on Envirofacts.

 

10

Here are the results for Denver, Colorado in a search for Cesium-137 in precipitation.

 

11

 

            The main purpose of the RadNet monitoring is to establish a base line for normal background radiation across the United States in monitor the air, rain, drinking water and milk for radiation above the safe levels due to nuclear explosions or radiation accidents at reactors.

            The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a radiation monitoring website called RadNet. From the homepage:

 

            “The nationwide RadNet system monitors the nation’s air, drinking water, precipitation, and pasteurized milk to determine levels of radiation in the environment. RadNet sample analyses and monitoring results provide baseline data on background levels of radiation in the environment and can detect increased radiation from radiological incidents.”

 

            From the RadNet FAQ:

 

            “RadNet is the only nationwide system that continuously monitors of ambient environmental radiation levels and those resulting from major nuclear accidents, such as the Fukushima nuclear reactor incident in Japan. RadNet data are used to inform the public, providing assurance if contamination levels are very low or helping to make science-based decisions about taking protective actions if contamination levels are high enough to warrant them.”

 

            The EPA has stationary and mobile air monitors measuring radioactivity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monitoring sites were chosen to give comprehensive coverage to the environment in the United States. These readings are consolidated and rendered as graphs several times a day.

 

            The fixed air monitors pass about 60 cubic meters of air per hour through a filter which is constantly checked for beta and gamma radiation. An average person will breathe about 20 cubic meters of air per days.

 

            There is a map of the air monitoring stations in the US displayed on the website.

 

You can put in your address to find a monitoring station near you. The locator includes a slider that allows you to enter the distance you want the search to encompass.

            The system will zoom into the search zone and show monitoring stations as purple circles. Here is the search results for my zip code in Seattle, Washington.

 

Putting your cursor over the purple spot will show you where the monitor is.

Under the map is a list of states and cities in those states where you can check on the air measurements or the liquid measurements.

            The air measurements show charts of gamma radiation:

 

The radiation measurements are for different ranges of gamma energies. The chart shows the different counts for emission events in these gamma ranges. The diagram below is an example of the total gamma count for a few hours for the ranges shown side by side.

 

 

            The main purpose of the RadNet air monitoring is to establish a base line for normal background radiation across the United States and to monitor the air for significant departures from that normal level caused by detonations of nuclear bombs and incidents at nuclear reactors where radiation is released into the environment. The primary path of such radioactive pollution is through the atmosphere. Initial dangers to the health of U.S. citizens from heightened radioactivity is through inhalation of particles in the air. 

            The menu at the top of the GeigerGraph for Networks includes menus for files, user setup, view, network and help.

 

    

       The FILES menu has options for saving data, clearing data, save the graph, save the whole screen, save all, print graph and print screen.

            The USER SETUP menu has options for editing the identity of your monitoring station, configuring alerts which we covered in the last post, get navy time from the U.S. Naval Observatory, 

 

and other options.

 

 

            The OTHER OPTIONS box includes a check box for showing a Welcome screen on start up, minimizing the program to the Windows system tray, showing a two minute guide on graph appearance, automatic restart of program after computer stops due to power failure, edit monitoring station identity. There is also an input box to set a time for an alarm to indicate detector failure. There are tabs to restore all system defaults and to clear all user entered data.

 

    

   

 

            The VIEW menu has a toggle for switching between a 2-D graph and a 3-D graph. You can call up a spreadsheet of the monitoring data where you can also add comments

 

 

and a report that is formatted for printing.

 

 

 

You can go to the GeigerCounters.com website, the radiation map with all the monitor stations. You can display or hide a set of remote monitoring stations as small boxes on the screen.

 

 

 

            The NETWORK menu lets you work with pager alerts and email alerts, You can join the Radiation Network and set up your system to run a web program. All these choices are covered in the previous post.

 

 

            The HELP menu includes choice to a ‘help narrative’ that walks you through how to use the program, troubleshoot the network by checking various system settings, open info files which are text files that contain information on the network parameters and the radiation network statuses, read the license agreement and a version screen for the GeigerGraph software including websites for contact.

 

 

            There is a cluster of icons on a tool bar that toggle 2-D and 3-D, save an image, save all data, show the spreadsheet, show the report, test alert sound, check naval observatory time,  print graph, go to GeigerCounters.com website, and call up help. 

 

 

             There is a second cluster of icons that bring up the pager alert screen, the email alert screen, view radiation map and view remote monitoring stations.

 

            GeigerGraph for Networks is a simple software package that allows you to monitor local radiation and upload it real time to a national map of monitors. The operation is easy and it is inexpensive. If you are concerned about radiation levels locally and nationally, then buy a compatible Geiger counter and the software and join the Radiation Network.