« 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44View All»

2014/09/03 at 6:33 pm
Southern Hemisphere August 2014 Background Radiation Report.

Station location
http://sccc.org.au/monitoring/Australian-Map.jpg

This short animation of Northern, and Southern Hemisphere air circulation, shows why we can get detections so far south.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh011eAYjAA

Summary

August’s 2014 monthly average background level was the lowest August monthly average since pre-Fukushima at 4% above the pre-Fukushima month average. August 2014 background levels here have been very stable. This August saw a longer period of Southern Ocean air flows than previous years for August, It is still quite cold here even now considering the time of year.

Even thought the local background level for August 2014 is showing a drop, the August rain water test is showing an increases in Lead Pb-210 and Beryllium Be-7. I will post test chart of the August rainwater test, and a report soon.

Technical details:

(Note: The 4yr average referred to in the charts, is the 4yr pre-Fukushima average.)

August 2014 was 4% above the 4 year pre-Fukushima average.

24 hour day average chart for August 2014
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Caloundra-local-average-background-radiation-levels-August-2014.jpg

2014 Month Average chart
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2014.jpg

2013 Month Average chart
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2013.jpg

2012 Month Average chart
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2012.jpg

2014/08/09 at 4:32 pm
Southern Hemisphere July 2014 Rain Water Test Report

Station location
http://sccc.org.au/monitoring/Australian-Map.jpg

This short animation of Northern, and Southern Hemisphere air circulation, shows why we can get detections so far south.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh011eAYjAA

Summary:

Even thought the roof rainwater water collection area that passed through the polyester filter has been nearly doubled this month, there were only been very small traces of I-129, Pb-210 and Be-7 detected. July rain fall was also low at 14.5 mm.

Test Chart

In this chart I have CPS on the Y axis to show activity, and have turned off Y log to show linear scaling.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Down-pipe-Caloundra-July-filter-test-020814-TV63-18c-84600-+-text.jpg

Previous Rain water and soil tests can be found here.
http://sccc.org.au/pages/The-Food-Lab.html#Soil%20Testing%20Results

2014/08/04 at 6:18 pm
Southern Hemisphere July 2014 Background Radiation Report.

Station location

http://sccc.org.au/monitoring/Australian-Map.jpg

This short animation of Northern, and Southern Hemisphere air circulation, shows why we can get detections so far south.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh011eAYjAA

Summary

July’s 2014 monthly average background level is the same as July 2013, 5% above the pre-Fukushima average. This is less than the 9% above average for 2012.

July 2014 background levels here have been very stable. This generally occurs every winter, as we get increased Southern Ocean air flows.

Note:

The monitoring Geiger counter has been in the same room, and room location, data logging background radiation levels, over the years. This year we had to do much needed renovations to the room. If you saw the room before the renovations, you would understand why. : )

Since May, the room where the monitoring Geiger counter is located, has had the ceiling, roof over the room, and carpet replaced with new materials, plus the walls have been newly painted. The wooden furniture the GammaScout Geiger counter sits on has also been changed. It is still in the same location in the room.

Overall as far as I can tell, this has not significantly changed the ambient background. If it has, it is by a very small amount.

Technical details:

(Note: The 4yr average referred to in the charts, is the 4yr pre-Fukushima average.)

July 2014 was 5% above the 4 year pre-Fukushima average.

24 hour day average chart for July 2014

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Caloundra-local-average-background-radiation-levels-July-2014.jpg

2014 Month Average chart

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2014.jpg

2013 Month Average chart

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2013.jpg

2012 Month Average chart

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2012.jpg

Disclaimer: This is an amateur volunteer run service. Human error can provide incorrect information, and equipment malfunction can produce false readings. Do not rely on, or take action upon information presented here, without further research.

2014/07/05 at 5:36 pm
Australia,
Queensland,
Sunshine Coast,
June 2014 Southern Hemisphere Background Radiation Report

Station location
http://sccc.org.au/monitoring/Australian-Map.jpg

This short animation of Northern, and Southern Hemisphere air circulation, shows why we can get detections so far south.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh011eAYjAA

Roof down pipe filter design for rainwater testing, http://sccc.org.au/down-pipe-filter-design

Summary

At this location, the data suggests airborne radioactive contamination leakage into the Southern Hemisphere has stabilized at present, as increases are not as dramatic as previous years.

Technical details:

(Note: The 4yr average referred to in the charts, is the 4yr pre-Fukushima average.)

June 2014, 7% above the 4 year pre-Fukushima average.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2014.jpg

June 2013, 7% above the 4 year pre-Fukushima average

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2013.jpg

June 2012, 3% above the 4 year pre-Fukushima average

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Caloundra-monthly-average-background-radiation-levels-for-2012.jpg

2014/06/21 at 6:43 pm
Australian Station location
http://sccc.org.au/monitoring/Australian-Map.jpg

This short animation of Northern, and Southern Hemisphere air circulation, shows why we can get detections so far south.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh011eAYjAA

June 2014 drain soil test

I have a large 30 square meter concrete slab that flows into one drain. It is an uncovered area at the time of sample collection. It had become full of runoff. This runoff had formed a fine soil with fine plant roots throughout it. When I cleaned the drain out, I collected a 526 grams sample, and placed it into a marinelli beaker for testing.

This is mainly the soil, minus the fine plant roots. I did not dry it out, so there would be some water content.

Lots of Lead Pb-210!

Lead Pb-210 is the end product of atmospheric Radon Ra-222 decay daughter isotope washout, and has a half life of 22 years. Radon itself is a decay daughter of Uranium U-238 decay.

Are more Radon decay daughters being created in the atmosphere by the huge amount of nano sized Uranium particles released from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, and the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) ammunition?

When I do a scintillator test I usually have two free MCA software programs running at the same time, Theremino and Becqmoni. This allows me to cross reference chart test results. Also, each software package has different advantages over the other. I used Becqmoni to work out the Pb-210 activity, in Becquerels per kilogram, for this soil sample.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Soil-from-drain-Caloundra-526-grams140614-TV62-22c-84695-+-text.jpg

The rest of the spectrum is a mixture of Uranium and Thorium decay daughters, plus some Be-7. The peak around 186 keV is most likely Radium. Maybe just a concentrating effect of the of Pb-210 from the large concrete surface area into this drain.

Here are some previous local soil tests. The detected amounts of Pb-210 present in these tests is a lot smaller.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Local-soil-sample-880grms-230812-60-81.jpg

This one was a soil area, where a tin roof drained onto it.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Glenview-soil-sample-616-grms-060912-63.84-9.jpg

2014/06/16 at 3:35 pm
Australian Banana and Strawberry Plant Mutation Report

I was sent twin bananas to test, from Northern New South Wales. Around the same time, we also found a mutated strawberry in a strawberry punnet, purchased from the local supermarket. The strawberries came from Victoria.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/twin-bananas-NSW-300×225.jpg

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Mutated-strawberry-300×296.jpg

Both the banana and the strawberry samples were long count tested, with a very sensitive Geiger counter. These tests showed no elevation above background. The samples were then tested with a Scintillator, in a lead and copper lined test chamber. Each sample was tested twice, and each test was run for 24 hours.

Voltage setting;
800 Volts

Scintillator Model:
2″ Alpha Spectra NaI 818/2B,
resolution 7%

« 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44View All»