Ambient office = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 157 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 158 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 101 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 116 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 102 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 73 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Baby Bella mushroom from Central Market = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 81 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Avocado from Central Market = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 114 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 103 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central Market = 104 nanosieverts per hour

      The South China Morning Post recently reported that nuclear scientists in China have discovered rich uranium deposits at shallow depths below the surface of the Earth. The discovery is being touted as a breakthrough for the China’s national security. It could also change the global scientific community’s understanding of formation of uranium deposits. This could provide a new avenue for the detection of uranium deposits worldwide.
      Massive amounts of industrial-grade uranium deposits were discovered at depths previously thought to be impossible. The new deposits will increase China’s estimated total reserve of uranium one thousand percent to more than two million tons. If these claims are true, that would put China roughly at the same level as Australia, which is one of the world’s most uranium-rich countries.
     The team behind the discovery used state-of-the-art technology and equipment to explore depths of up to 10,000 feet which they claim is six times deeper than most of China’s uranium mines.
     The China National Nuclear Corporation issued a statement on its WeChat social media account on Tuesday that said, “This world-leading project is a major breakthrough for our country.”
     The new deposits will help China meet its growing demand for nuclear power as the country shifts toward the use of nuclear fission for its energy needs as it aims to cut its carbon dioxide emissions. Uranium is also used in nuclear weapons production. The new deposits will reportedly help the country increase its military’s nuclear arsenal.
     Li Ziying is the director of Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology. He claimed the discovery challenges widely held beliefs on uranium deposit formation.
     Uranium was thought to concentrate mainly in shallow, geophysical stable areas. However, some of the largest deposits found by China in recent years are more than 5000 feet below the surface of the Earth. The regions in which they were found have experienced large tectonic movements. Long-standing theories would suggest that it would be impossible for uranium deposits to form at that depth.
     Li and his colleagues believe that tectonic collisions might cause uranium to rise from the mantle before being trapped in small “hotspots” thousands of meters below the Earth’s surface.
     The researchers utilized an airborne, ultra-sensitive remote sensor to detect tiny traces of heat produced by uranium from below the ground. Once such heat was detected, they used a drilling machine with a specially made bore head to obtain small samples from the depths. Finally, they used artificial intelligence to increase the speed of their data analysis.
     The new method of uranium detection could be employed globally to help other countries find hidden uranium deposits. Nuclear power, until recently maligned due to the problem of radioactive waste and potential for catastrophic disasters, has seen a resurgence in recent years fueled by the world’s need to shift away from fossil fuel production.
     The global uranium market is currently quite volatile due to the unstable nuclear market. Considering that there are plenty of known uranium reserves in the world, it is an open question of whether this Chinese discovery will have an impact on global uranium prices and supplies.

Ambient office = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 54 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 50 nanosieverts per hour

Tomato from Central Market =108 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 82 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 72 nanosieverts per hour

Part 4 of 4 Parts (Please read Parts 1, 2 and 3 first)
     Accomplishing all this will not be easy and it will not be cheap. But the nuclear supporters say that the West will benefit from supporting its dynamic and innovative nuclear sector. Although traditional, large-scale nuclear projects have been struggling domestically in the U.S. and Europe, a new suite of nuclear technologies might start to shift the market in their favor. The U.S. has more than sixty companies working on advanced nuclear technologies. These include NuScale Power which is marketing small modular reactors. It has reached agreements to deploy them to Poland and Romania. The British company Rolls Royce is working to develop its own small modular reactor technology. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. utility Exelon and entities in the Czech Republic. Westinghouse is a U.S. nuclear company that has assisted Ukraine to dramatically reduce its reliance on Moscow. It has also recently expanded its cooperation with the Czech Republic as well as Slovenia to explore deploying its newer AP1000 nuclear power reactors. In April of this year, the U.S. State Department announced that it would help Latvia explore the feasibility of nuclear energy.
     These kinds of collaborations across allied democracies are exactly what the world needs to create energy supply chains that are secure, ethical and sustainable. They will help the West build resilience against the whims of authoritarian regimes. By changing away from fossil fuels, they will also assist nations to avoid supply shortages and price shocks. However, these collaborations show a recognition that the solution to Russia’s energy dominance and to climate change is not to support an attempt at green nationalism. Instead, it requires that allied nations work together to design energy systems and technologies that are robust because they are collaborative and interdependent.
     While nuclear energy may be a path to energy independence from Russia and China, this will only be possible if the nuclear industry can reign in the schedule and cost overruns for nuclear power plants. The time needed to license and construct nuclear power plants are losing the battle for market share to renewable sources such as wind and solar. Unfortunately, nations cannot pursue both nuclear energy and renewable sources. This makes nuclear energy a poor bet to fight climate change which must be done as quickly as possible. And the elephant in the room for nuclear energy is the huge amount of spent nuclear fuel waste which still has not permanent geological repository anywhere in the world. It is probable that one more nuclear disaster on the level of the 2011 Fukushima disaster could sour both public opinion and investor interest. It will be an uphill battle to revitalize the global nuclear industry and it may not be the best solution to future energy needs.
      A wild card in the energy sector is the huge investment in nuclear fusion research. While it has not yet been achieved, there are over a dozen companies in the U.S. alone working furiously to prototype a commercial nuclear fusion reactor within the next ten years. If any of these different approaches to nuclear fusion succeed, the global energy market will suffer massive changes.