Ambient office = 103 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Raspberry from Central Market = 82 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 72 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central = 95 nanosieverts per hour

     Swedish nuclear technical services provider Studsvik has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Finnish utility Fortum to investigate the conditions for new nuclear facilities at the Studsvik industrial site near Nyköping in Sweden.
     The MoU is part of Fortum’s nuclear feasibility study that was launched in October of 2022. During the two-year program, Fortum will explore commercial, technological, and societal, including political, legal, and regulatory conditions both for conventional large reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs) in Finland and Sweden. The study will also explore new partnerships and business models.
     The agreement with Studsvik triggers a process with the aim of assessing the potential to build new nuclear power reactors at the Nyköping site. In the first phase, the goal will be to identify potential business models and technical solutions that merit further development.
     Studsvik has previously said that its Nyköping site is in a strategic location. It houses the company’s broad expertise in nuclear technology, including nuclear fuel and materials technology, reactor analysis software and nuclear fuel optimization, decommissioning and radiation protection services as well as technical solutions for handling, conditioning and volume reduction of radioactive waste.
     Studsvik said, “In the long-term, there is a possibility for new nuclear power on the Studsvik site, either in the form of commercial reactors, research reactors or a combination of both. In that case, Studsvik’s role will be to make land available and contribute with its expertise in various areas – not to build or operate nuclear power plants on its own.”
     Camilla Hoflund is the President and CEO of Studsvik. She said, “Studsvik is positive to new nuclear as a part of the green transition, since it constitutes fossil-free, efficient, and plannable electricity production. We welcome Fortum as a partner to investigate the possibility of establishing new nuclear on the Studsvik site, which is a classic nuclear area with an infrastructure already adapted to nuclear operations.”
     Fortum said that the agreement “supports its strategic priorities to deliver reliable and clean energy and to drive decarbonization in industries by providing clean energy and CO2-free solutions to its customers.”
     Laurent Leveugle is the Vice President for New Nuclear at Fortum. He said, “A lot of new electricity generation will be needed across the Nordics to meet future electricity demand in our societies and industries. I am very satisfied as this agreement shows our ambition to support Sweden’s green transition in the long-term.”
     The MoU between Studsvik and Fortum will run in parallel with agreements with Kärnfull Next and Blykalla (formerly known as LeadCold) that were announced earlier.
     In August of this year, Studsvik signed an MoU with Swedish SMR project development company Kärnfull Next. It is exploring the possibility of building and operating SMRs at Nyköping. In March of 2022, Kärnfull Next signed an MoU with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to collaborate on deployment of BWRX-300 in Sweden.
     Under an agreement signed in March, Swedish lead-cooled SMR technology developer Blykalla is to carry out a feasibility study on the construction and operation of a demonstration Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor (SEALER) with associated infrastructure for nuclear fuel fabrication in Nyköping.
    Fortum has also signed cooperation agreements with Westinghouse, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Rolls-Royce SMR, EDF, Kärnfull Next as well as Finland’s Outokumpu and Helen Energy.

Ambient office = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Mini cuke from Central Market = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 94 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 78 nanosieverts per hour

Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     The Princeton researchers, using archived weather data over a forty-eight-hour period across a number of dates in 2021 to simulate the expected radioactive plume, discovered that the West Coast states were at the lowest risk due to a prevailing easterly wind.
     However, depending on the exact wind direction, the worst fallout could rain down over any part of the U.S. and Canada east of Idaho. Based on weather patterns on December 2, 2021, Chicago, Illinois and Washington D.C., among other population centers, would be in the direct path of a fatal dose of radiation.
     In a worst-case scenario, almost all of Montana and North Dakota, as well as parts of Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas would receive a dose of radiation more than ten times what is considered lethal, bringing death in a few days. Most of the Midwestern U.S., would receive a lethal dose of radiation, while elsewhere would see deaths occur in weeks.
     The researchers found that most people living in North America would have a one percent chance of receiving an outdoor dose severe enough to cause acute radiation poisoning resulting in death.
     The Princeton modeling makes its prediction based on the assumption that all silo-based missiles would be struck. The report does note that its projections have already been confirmed by a 1990 Federal Emergency Management Agency assessment. It found that no part of the U.S. was beyond the risk of deadly levels of radiation.
     Laura Helmuth is the Scientific American’s editor-in-chief. She said, “These maps send a clear message with which the many nuclear safety and environmental experts we spoke to concur: these are not risks that we should be taking.”
     The Pentagon stressed the need for the U.S. to have a functioning atomic arsenal to act as a deterrent against other nations with nuclear arsenals. Some critics have questioned the cost and necessity of the new missile replacement program because of the occasional false alarms in the system and the advances in U.S. submarines and aerial strike capabilities.
      William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, stated his opinion in 2016 that “there is only one way to win an arms race: refuse to run.” He added that “The only real way to use nuclear weapons is never. They should exist only in numbers large enough to deter their use by others, which they already abundantly do, with not one warhead more.” His opinion was cited in the Scientific American article.
     A DoD spokesperson claimed that the “the attributes of each Triad leg are complementary, ensuring that the United States can withstand and respond to any strategic attack.”
     He added that “After extensive review, the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review reiterated that the combination of all three legs of the U.S. nuclear Triad is the best approach to maintaining strategic stability at reasonable cost while mitigating against the risk of potential technical, programmatic or other problems or vulnerabilities. Silo-based ICBMs have been a core element of the Triad for over 60 years, and the replacement of the Minuteman III ICBM weapon system by the Sentinel ICBM weapon system does not increase risk to the United States.”

Ambient office = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 159 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 158 nanosieverts per hour

Green grape from Central Market = 109 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Part 1 of 2 Parts
     It is estimated that a nuclear strike on U.S. cities would be devastating. However, a nuclear attack on U.S. missile silos would kill millions by acute radiation poisoning in a few days. Radioactive fallout would spread across the entire country.
     A recent study published in Scientific American concluded that if the strategic missile launch bases were hit, most of the Midwest would be bathed in a more than legal dose of radiation. In a worst-case scenario, most of the U.S. and Canada would become uninhabitable.
    Researchers at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security estimated that in the first four days after the missile silos were struck, between three hundred forty thousand and four and a half million people would die. The average death toll would be around one and a half million. The report they produced predicted that three hundred million people would be at risk of a lethal dose of fallout.
     The Princeton study follows a statement by the U.S. Air Force last year that said that it would be replacing all of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). These missiles have been in operation since the 1970s. There are also more modern Sentinel missiles from 2009.
     It is estimated that the one and a half trillion-dollar plan will replace all four hundred of the older missiles. Though the range and payload of the Sentinel ICBM have not been officially released, they are believed to have an equivalent explosive power of eight hundred kilotons of TNT. When fired, they are expected to travel up to six thousand miles and strike any target around the world in thirty minutes.
     Minuteman missiles have a range of eight thousand miles. They carry estimated payloads equivalent to one hundred seventy to three hundred fifty-five kilotons.
     The researchers at Princeton said that the U.S. Air Force had investigated the potential effects on humans and the environment of deploying a Sentinel. However, they did not mention what would happen if the missiles were detonated in their silos.
     A Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson told Newsweek that it had not had the opportunity to review the Princeton report so they could not directly address its findings. However, they did say that the Sentinel missiles would not increases the risk to the U.S.
     The DoD said, “The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review made clear that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. To this end, the best deterrent to adversary initiation of nuclear war against the United States or its allies or partners is a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent and strong and credible extended deterrence.”
     U.S. nuclear missiles silo bases are located across five states including Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana and North Dakota. They form part of the U.S. “nuclear triad, which gives the U.S. the ability to also launch nuclear strikes from submarines and aircraft if one leg of the triad is compromised.
     The researchers said that the nuclear missiles in their silos are buried deep underground and covered with a huge blast door. In order to detonate one of those missiles, an enemy nuclear warhead would have to land very close to the silo.
Please read Part 2 next

Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 92 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 94 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 127 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 117 nanosieverts per hour