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Southern Hemisphere September 2018 Background Level 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
The reference monitoring station’s GammaScout Geiger counter died on the 12th September 2018, RIP. The last full day average it recorded was on the 11th September 2018. The GammaScout was used as a reference up until now, because all the data recorded here prior to Fukushima was using a GammaScout.
Will be trialling different equipment for the local monitoring station, a SBT-10 pancake, using Theremino Geiger counter software. I worked out how to transfer the logged data for this new setup into the charts I created for the GammaScout logged data. Because this is completely different monitoring equipment, the long term data reference will not be as accurate.
September’s 2018 month average is based on the 29 days of collected data.
September average background here tends to vary a lot from year to year. September marks the seasonal change from winter to spring and wind direction at this location during this seasonal change can swing wildly between tropical to southerlies. The more tropical wind we get for September, the higher the background, the more Southerly, the lower the background.
September 2018 day average background chart,
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Caloundra-local-average-background-radiation-levels-September-2018.jpg
Caloundra September month average, year comparisons.
2018 14% above pre-Fukushima average
2017 27% above pre-Fukushima average
2016 12% above pre-Fukushima average
2015 5% above pre-Fukushima average
2014 6% above pre-Fukushima average
2013 15% above pre-Fukushima average
2012 13% above pre-Fukushima average
Cairns September Report – A slight increase around the middle of the month, but otherwise close to average. The Cairns monitoring station has two GammaScout Geiger counters.
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Cairns-September-2018.jpg
Monthly and yearly average charts from 2007 to 2018.
http://sccc.org.au/yearly-average-background-radiation-levels
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 on this web site, without further research.
2018/09/11 at 3:51 pm
Southern Hemisphere August 2018 Background Level 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
Since the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, the long term August month averages are showing a gradual increase background levels.
August 2018 day average background chart,
Caloundra August month average, year comparisons.
2018 12% above pre-Fukushima average
2017 17% above pre-Fukushima average
2016 8% above pre-Fukushima average
2015 5% above pre-Fukushima average
2014 4% above pre-Fukushima average
2013 8% above pre-Fukushima average
2012 9% above pre-Fukushima average
Cairns August Report – “All pretty level, no significant peaks.” The Cairns monitoring station has two GammaScout Geiger counters.
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cairns-August-2018.jpg
Monthly and yearly average charts from 2007 to 2018.
http://sccc.org.au/yearly-average-background-radiation-levels
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 on this web site, without further research.
2018/08/04 at 6:01 pm
Southern Hemisphere Spike Detections Update, & July 2018 Southern Hemisphere 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
Spike in Background Levels in Tasmania 4th and 6th July, and Caloundra on the 7th July 2018
Very surprised to find this significant detection showing up on the Caloundra 24 hour chart for the 7th of July. There had been an up tick in background at the beginning of July compared to June 2018, but the 52% above day average detection was a shock. Wind direction at the time was from inland Australia, which was also very surprising. We had a very light short shower in the morning. The live Radon monitor here showed nothing significant, levels were relatively low, around 0.2 pCi/l.
We have looked around the World wind maps to try and determine the source of these significant background spikes, but have been unable to pinpoint a definitive source. One suggestion put forward is the possible venting of volatile radioactive gases from the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney that were blown around in the local atmosphere.
I went to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), monitoring station web site. Their monitoring station is located near Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney Australia. This was to see if their monitoring station had picked up any spikes in July background radiation levels. What I found was the notice below. A strange coincidence ????
Radiation monitoring
“The environmental radiation station will not be operational in July due to repairs and maintenance of the system.”
http://www.ansto.gov.au/Resources/Localenvironment/Atmosphericmonitoring/Radiationmonitoring/index.htm
Interestingly there were reports of a breakdown at the Lucas Height nuclear reactor in late June 2018.
28th June 2018 – Breakdown at Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney sparks fears of medical supplies shortage
Extract:
The facility’s production of 10,000 doses of technetium-99m per week for Australian patients has come to a halt. The products are used in nuclear imaging and are a vital diagnostic tool used in scans for heart, lung and musculoskeletal conditions, cancer and many other medical conditions.
Engineers were not yet able to “physically attend to the conveyor” an ANSTO spokesman said, although they had been working on fixing the mechanical fault over the weekend.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-27/lucas-heights-nuclear-reactor-breakdown-medical-supply-shortage/9915242
Nullschool 7th July wind chart for Caloundra
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2018/07/07/1400Z/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-217.66,-32.79,1247
Caloundra 24 hour 60 second sampling chart for the 7th July.
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Caloundra-24-hour-chart-070718.jpg
A few days before the Caloundra detection, a contact in Tasmania informed me of spikes in their local background. Spikes in background in Tasmania were detected on two separate detectors. On the 4th July the Tasmanian wind direction source was also off the Australian mainland.
Nullschool 4th July wind chart for Tasmania
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2018/07/04/0600Z/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-209.76,-28.21,815/loc=146.465,4.276
Tasmania, 4th July Background chart
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Tasmania-4th-July-2018.png
Tasmania, 6th July Background chart
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Tasmania-6th-July-2018.png
The Tasmanian monitoring station happened to have an air filter which was sent to me for testing and arrived a few day later.
Below is the Tasmania filter test chart minus background tested using new Theremino PMT adapter equipment. If there was anything present it is below the resolution of the equipment here.
http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Tasmania-filter-test-110718-TV7.2-16c-161387.png
Caloundra Water Tank Filter test
Here is the latest Caloundra local water tank filter test of 45 grams of fine organic material minus background. The two prominent isotope peaks are for the isotopes of Lead-210, from Radon-222 decay, and Berryllium-7, from upper atmosphere spallation.
The Caloundra and Tasmanian filter tests did not show anything significant, which points to radioactive short life volatile gases passing through. The most likely source of short life volatile radioactive gases in Australia would be the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney Australia. The circumstantial evidence points to venting occurring at the Lucas Heights facility, to fix the broken conveyor used in the production of Technetium-99m.
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