fukushima fall out

[fishb0y]

I guess I should rethink my 14 years working with nuclear power then...

 

[PatW]

People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.

 

[Texasguy]

I am more afraid of a Godzilla. I think I have seen some documentaries about a big lizzard coming out of a sea, born in a highly radiative water, destroying cities and eating helicopters. When you scuba dive, you run a chance to meet it underwater.

 

[agesilaus]

I was a health physicist in the Navy (ELT) and I can assure you that any contamination reaching California is far below any sort of danger limit. As someone pointed out you'll get a lot more radiation on any flight between cities where you fly at high altitudes, or a getting an X-ray at the doctors or dentist. Eating a banana would probably give you more of a dose, they are high in potassium which is naturally slightly radioactive.

 

[CosFragger]

The plus side is that if you start glowing, then you will no longer need glow sticks for night dives

 

[spoolin01]

People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.

Not sure where you came by this specificity information, but it's plain incorrect. Without quibbling over a narrow definition for 'Geiger', handheld meters that are commonly referred to as Geiger counters pick up beta and gamma as well, it just depends on the probe that's attached. I used them many years to pick up weak gamma contamination on surfaces in the lab, the folks next door had beta probes on their meters, since those were the emitters they used. You can buy the meters and somewhat interchangeable probes fairly readily.

The real limitation to the handheld meters is sensitivity. At remote distances from a release, ingestion or contact exposure is the risk - not hot spots of fallout - and you'd want to know at levels well below what a probe meter can detect.

Unfortunately the more sensitive instruments are large, really pricey, and more the province of laboratory installations. There just haven't been many field versions of the sensitive gamma or beta detectors made and they seem rare on the used market, that I've found.

 

[Bob DBF]

People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.

Geiger counters detects ionizing radiation which can be Alpha but could also be beta or gamma, all it has to have is enough energy to be able to break an electron loose from a molecule. Or as my Chief liked to say, it can tell you you're in trouble but not you're up against.



Bob
--------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[spoolin01]

I was a health physicist in the Navy (ELT) and I can assure you that any contamination reaching California is far below any sort of danger limit. As someone pointed out you'll get a lot more radiation on any flight between cities where you fly at high altitudes, or a getting an X-ray at the doctors or dentist. Eating a banana would probably give you more of a dose, they are high in potassium which is naturally slightly radioactive.

It seems premature to project how much we'll see here yet. Fukushima fallout radiation was detected along the North American west coast at the time of the release, it's just now the time that current-borne radiation will be arriving - slightly elevated levels have already been detected along British Columbia - and most concerning, in my mind, it appears the release of radiation continues to this day quite possibly at high levels, with some scary prospects for it getting much worse, according to some (not all of whom are obviously ignorant hysterics). How much the pipeline has been stuffed, and how much will come here, remains to be seen.

The good news is, as you point out, it's not particularly acute in its consequences at levels we're likely to see. Sadly, that's about where the good news stops when it comes to elevated radiation levels.

 

[agesilaus]

People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.

No, Geiger counters detect gamma radiation, and can detect beta if they have a window installed on the probe. Alpha detectors are a different type of instrument. Alpha particles will not penetrate the metal wall of the Geiger tube nor the wall of the beta window.

I have plenty of hands on experience with Geiger, Alpha and Neutron detectors.

BK

 

[SSpiffy]

If you are actually concerned,take a look at this chart that compares assorted sources of radiation doses.

Radiation Chart | xkcd

---------- Post added April 12th, 2014 at 05:16 PM ----------

No, Geiger counters detect gamma radiation, and can detect beta if they have a window installed on the probe. Alpha detectors are a different type of instrument. Alpha particles will not penetrate the metal wall of the Geiger tube nor the wall of the beta window.

I have plenty of hands on experience with Geiger, Alpha and Neutron detectors.

BK

Another Nuke! Yay!

Where?

I attended Mare Island, Idaho A1W, then rode the Enterprise from 76 to 80.