Ambient office  =  133 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 128 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 128 nanosieverts per hour

Aloha pepper from Central Market = 74 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 90 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

      One of the biggest problems with nuclear power in the U.S. is the disposal of the seventy thousand tons of spent nuclear fuel from the 98 operating commercial nuclear power reactors. In addition to having to deal with this huge problem, there is also the need to clean up nuclear waste created by the U.S. government in the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear research projects. This cleanup is in the hands of the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).

       In 2017, the DoE estimated the cost of nuclear clean up at three hundred eighty-four billion dollars. The estimate for 2018 was four hundred and ninety-four billions dollars. The estimate increased in one year by roughly twenty five percent or one hundred billion dollars. These estimated were provided to the DoE under a contract with the accounting firm KPMG. David Trimble is the director of the Government Accountability Office’s Natural Resource and Environment division. He said, “We believe the number is growing and we believe the number is understated.”
       Eighty percent of the increase in the annual estimation is a result of new estimates of the cost of cleaning up the radioactive wastes and hazardous chemicals at the five hundred and eighty six square mile Hanford Reservation in south central Washington State. The Hanford Reservation hosted nine production reactors and processing facilities which generated plutonium for the construction of the U.S. nuclear arsenal during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Reservation was developed and put into operation in the early 1940S and continued to operate until 1989
       Cleaning up the radioactive mess at Hanford has already cost the U.S. government one hundred and seventy billion dollars in the last thirty years. Unfortunately, the most complicated and difficult part of the clean up has not been accomplished yet. There are over fifty-six million gallons of what are described as “hazardous and highly radioactive waste” by the DoE Inspector General.
       The sharp rise in the estimated cost of DoE cleanup of radioactive wastes resulted from an update in the projected cost of activities at Hanford. They need to build and operate a waste treatment plant which will have to include “operating costs, tank farm retrieval and closure costs.” The report on estimated Hanford costs also mentioned that changes were needed in technical approach or scope and updated estimations of projected waste volumes.
       A DoE spokesperson said that the office that oversees the Hanford cleanup is “committed to making progress on the ground at Hanford and mitigating the years of escalating liabilities at the site. The statement continued “(the DoE) is working with regulators and stakeholders on best options to treat and dispose of radioactive waste.” Trimble at the General Accounting Office says that he does not believe that the DoE has a coherent strategic plan on how to carry out its cleanup mission.
       Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has proposed that the radioactive waste at Hanford be reclassified to make its ultimate disposal cheaper. This proposal is rigorously opposed by environmental groups in the Pacific Northwest.

Ambient office  =  73 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Red pear from Central Market = 102 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 59 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 52 nanosieverts per hour

       Recently I posted a couple of articles about robots that are being developed to work in hostile environments such as nuclear reactors and nuclear waste facilities. Toshiba has just announced a new remote-controlled robot that it hopes can be used to investigate the three destroyed reactors at the Fukushima site of the 2011 nuclear disaster.
      One of the big problems at the Fukushima site is determining the current location of all the nuclear fuel that melted down through the floors of the containment vessels in the three destroyed reactors.
       Robotic probes have already been sent into the destroyed reactors to find the pieces of melted fuel. Some pieces of fuel have been located by probes which utilized a camera developed by Toshiba and the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning. Other pieces of fuel remain to be found.
       Toshiba says that they are planning experiments with the new robot this February. They are trying to determine exactly what technologies, equipment and processes will be needed to remove the pieces of melted fuel. This is thought to be the most difficult problem confronting the decommissioning process that is expected to require decades.
       The new Toshiba robot is a twelve-inch cylinder. It will carry a dosimeter for measuring radiation, a thermometer to monitor temperature, LED lights, a camera and a pair of tongs on the front end. The robot will slide down a pipe dangling on a cable attached to the rear end and travel to the bottom of the reactor vessel’s pedestal which is located below the core. The tongs can grasp pieces of melted fuel as wide as three inches and weighing up to four and a half pounds with its tongs.  
       Jun Suzuki is a ESS group manager at Toshiba. He said that “Until now we have only seen those deposits, and we need to know whether they will break off and can be picked up and taken out. Touching the deposits is important so we can make plans to sample the deposits, which is a next key step.”
        The robot has been designed to investigate the physical condition of the fuel debris. Other issues such as the radioactivity of the debris will require that samples be collected and safely stored. Additional equipment will be required to carry out these tasks.
         Tsutomu Takeuchi is an ESS senior manager on the Toshiba Fukushima decommissioning project. He said “We are taking one step at a time. First we’ll find out if those deposits can be picked up.” He also said that if it turns out that the robot is unable to successfully grasp and lift pieces of debris, that will be an important finding.
       Some sort of cutting device may have to be added to the robot to enable it to cut off a piece of fuel debris that the robot can grasp and lift. Toshiba and the Japanese government hope to be able to determine proper methods for removing the melted fuel from each of the destroyed reactors at the Fukushima site during 2019. Actual removal of melted fuel will take place in 2021.

Ambient office  =  93 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 105 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 106 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 77 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 67 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office  =  94 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 119 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 120 nanosieverts per hour

Bartlett pear from Central Market = 52 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 127 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 120 nanosieverts per hour