The “Nano” kit for the general public is about to launch.  The bGeigie, an abbreviation for  Bento Geiger Counter, was named in Japan.   The original was about the size of a Bento Lunch Box.  The first box had an Inspector Alert by IMI-International Medcom in it, and it was strapped to the side of a car and driven into Fukushima Prefecture after the meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi.  The data collected by that and subsequent expeditions were shared with the world on maps developed by nonprofit Safecast.  Safecast developed some open source electronics,added an Arduino board to collect data, a GPS receiver, a data logger with micro SD card, a Medcom iRover board for high voltage and signal processing, and they miniaturized it.

I have designed and built my own instruments for many years, and contributed to the design of 2 geiger counter kits that were pretty cool.  I have to say that Safecast has done a brilliant job on this instrument.  In my opinion it’s not only the coolest Geiger Counter kit ever, but perhaps one of the coolest DIY kits ever. What it will do:

• Display radiation data on an OLED display in uSv/hr or CPM
• Display and log time and position from onboard GPS receiver
• Combine radiation data with time/date/gps to create a detailed log
• Interface to an iPhone app developed by Safecast to share data

You can also share collected data on Safecast Maps using a user friendly API.  That data can then be viewed by you, your community and the world.   This makes you an official “Safecaster” and you will be part of a global movement to create and share “open” data.  Since the whole project is open source, you can also contribute your own ideas or modify the code to get it to do things in different ways.

When you buy this kit, a portion of the proceeds will go to nonprofit Safecast to help them build their global sensor network.  It is being offered at an amazing low introductory price.  Support materials will be available on a website.  Phone support cannot be offered at the low introductory price of $450, so the kit builder is responsible for troubleshooting the device if there are any assembly problems.

If you are an experienced kit builder you should have no problems.  If you are new to electronics you will need to learn to solder and read basic instructions.  You may want a teacher or mentor to help you.  As part of classroom  activities with appropriate learning materials (not provided with kit) you can learn a lot about basic science, physics, electronics, software, statistics, and computer science.

The kit features a highly sensitive 2 inch Pancake Geiger Mueller detector, which will detect alpha, beta and gamma and x-radiation.

Purchaser must be at least 18 years of age.  Caution is advised in assembly and handling as there is a 500 volt high voltage assembly within the instrument.

To preorder the bGeigie Nano Kit, fill out this form or contact IMI – International Medcom.

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What is a bGeigie Nano you might ask?   It is a Geiger Counter and more.   It is the smaller and younger sibling, so to speak, of the original bGeigie developed by Safecast to respond to the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns, and the lack of radiation data during the event.  The original bGeigie was about the size of a Japanese bento box, and and was given the name as an abbreviation of “Bento Sized Geiger Counter” by Safecast Japan Director Pieter Franken.   Pieter and his talented international team went on to develop the concept and technology.  It is one powerful component of a radiation mapping system that was created for the Fukushima situation, and adapted to become a global project.   The bGeigie Nano is just now becoming available to the public as a do-it-yourself kit.   It includes a GPS receiver, micro SD card, data logger, Arduino microcontroller, OLED display, and Pancake Geiger Mueller detetor with mica window.  This powerful combination of features in one water proof package will allow you to characterize your neighborhood, home and work environment, and publish it to maps that others can view.  The Nano must be removed from the waterproof case to take advantage of the Pancake detectorʻs alpha and beta radiation sensitivity.

When I first strapped the instrument to the side of my car I remembered Pieter driving North from Tokyo into Fukushima during the incident when there was no data available on the ground there.   As the maps he and other Safecast volunteers created got published, we began to get the first pictures of what happened, where the plume went.  Eventually data was released by Japan and US governments that collaborated the data Safecast collected.   Now governments, universities,  businesses, entrepreneurs are looking at Safecast as a case study on how things can be deployed rapidly when people work together using the powerful tools we have in the internet, open source hardware and software innovations, and lean start-up principals.

People who purchase, build and deploy the powerful bGeigie Nano kit will get to:

1. Be part of a large international open source project for sharing radiation and other environmental data.
2. Learn about the power and practical benefits of open source, open data, rapid deployment technologies
3. Contribute to our collective knowledge base about radiation on Planet Earth
4. Learn some physics and electronics
5. Support Safecast (a portion of kit sales proceeds will benefit the organization)
6. Help keep your community safe

Hereʻs data I collected recently in the San Francisco Bay Area:

:

It was as easy as strapping the bGeigie Nano to the side of my car, turning it on and driving.

For information on getting your own bGeigie Nano kit, contact International Medcom, http://www.medcom.com

More information coming soon!

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Droids that Detect Radiation are now manufactured by several companies and deployed throughout Fukushima Prefecture. This one is made by NEC

Safecast has just published a very detailed blog post about Japanʻs new generation of radiation detecting “droids,” and about the poor quality of data presentation in Japan since the Fukushima disaster.   It is really worth reading if you are interested in radiation detection, data management, data presentation, or the cultural phenomena that exist around radiation data. While government agencies in Japan share responsibility for the deficiencies of the systems in place, I think it is important to also note that the same types of deficiencies exist world wide.  Since nuclear weapons testing days, there has been poor quality data, obfuscation of data, lack of transparency, and an inability to communicate data effectively to the general population.  Great Britain, France, the United States, the former USSR counries, China, Taiwan, Australia, all have records of irresponsible behaviors, poor data management and communications – related to the populations affected by radiation events.  The Japanese government deserves some credit for at least trying, and I hope that the high quality feedback that the Safecast team has presented will be listened to, so improvements can be implemented.  The world needs a better standard.

Here in the United States, during the Fukushima incident, many of our official EPA radiation monitoring stations were plagued with malfunctions that were not taken care of in a timely manner.  Public trust was lost.   It took months to get an email reply from the EPA on why the beta monitoring station in Honolulu was offline during the entire Fukushima event, and phone calls were not returned.   And letʻs remember that beta radiation is a concern that is often conveniently ignored in these government operated systems.  Letʻs hope Japan gets it right, and sets a better standard as they did with their fuel efficient, less polluting automobiles.

Kudos to Safecast for the excellent research and report!

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See LA Times Story.

The Santa Susana Field Lab site overlooks the San Fernando Valley.

Polluted Lab Site

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From: information@tepco.co.jp
Date: 2012年12月7日 18:48:37 JST
Subject: TEPCO Digest December 7, 2012 (2)

Dear Subscriber,

—– Announcement —–

At around 5:18 PM on Friday, December 7, an earthquake (seismic intensity of4) occurred in Hamadori region in Fukushima Prefecture. The conditions of the nuclear power stations are as follows.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
There has been no problem found with the monitoring post data, Units 1-6 main plant parameters, reactor water injection system, accumulated water transfer, water treatment facility and other facilities. Currently, no injury has been reported due to the earthquake. The maximum acceleration observed in the power station was 26.2 Gal (horizontal direction) at the foundation ground in Unit 6 Reactor Building.

Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station
The maximum acceleration observed in the power station was 26.0 Gal(vertical direction) at the foundation ground in Unit 1 Reactor Building.
The fluctuation of the monitoring post readings is being maintained within the range of normal fluctuation before and after the earthquake and currently no radiation impact to the outside of the power station has been reported due to the earthquake. No injury has been reported due to the earthquake.

We will continue investigating the conditions of the equipments/facilities in the power stations.

Tokyo Electric Power Company
Corporate Communications Dept.
Tel: 03-6373-1111

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Tokyo based filmmaker Adrian Storey made this 3 minute documentary about Safecast for the Focus Forward Films competition.

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Reports from Japan say the situation is stable at Fukushima Daiichi reactors.  See this Guardian report.

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Many people ask me about how to share radiation data.   Things just got easier thanks to Safecast.  It’s created by their talented team of techie volunteers.

Here are instructions on how to submit radiation data using their new API:

Everything you need is at  http://api.safecast.org

Take a moment and look through the links there.

There is a web form that allows you to upload a bGeigie log file or submit a single measurement.  A bGeigie, or bento-sized geiger counter with data logger created by Safecast, allows data to be collected with gps coordinates.   These can be obtained from Safecast if you are in Japan.  They donate them to communities and individuals who will use them to add data to the Safecast maps.  A kit version of the small version of the bGeigie will be available in coming weeks from IMI-International Medcom.   For single measurement submissions you will be asked your location and what type of instrument you are using.

Sean Bonner, Safecast Global Director tells us that you can also access the API documentation to see how to interface with that directly. With the API you can submit data directly, but you can also query specific parameters (dates, locations, submitter, etc) – there’s no front end UI for this yet so it only works in code, but Safecast is working on an advanced search page that will provide a UI front end to the API.

If you want to just pull down the full dataset it’s located here:

https://api.safecast.org/system/measurements.csv

That file updates every night so it’s very current.

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Russian scientists were there with instrumentation they developed post-Chernobyl

The Radiex Conference in Tokyo, in September, was successful at bringing people together around technologies for cleaning up and monitoring radioactive contamination in Japan.   The conference was well attended.

In fashion conscious Tokyo it was interesting to see these suits for clean up workers to protect themselves. But radiation protection is an important issue now.

I attended the show, made a couple of presentations, and worked with Safecast to promote the value of the radiation maps they have been creating since the Fukushima Daiichi event.  Safecast has posted more about the conference on their website.  My company, IMI-International Mecom continues to support the good work they are doing.

   

Safecast Volunteer Kalin Kozhuharov talks with attendees at Radiex 2012

Some of Safecast Team at Radiex 2012 Conference.

The first conference of its type, Radiex 2012 will certainly not be the last.   It will take many years to deal with the problems created by the earthquake, tsunami, meldowns.

In some cases forests are being cut down. This is one approach to remediation. The Cesium 134 and Cesium 137 are taken up from the soil into the trees. Then the trees are burned and the waste compacted for storage as radioactive waste.

Radioactive materials need to be properly contained and transported. These concrete containers serve that function. There were also a lot of heavy duty plastic bags on display.

This device can be pulled behind a tractor for measuring contamination on farmland

In addition to devices for measuring soil contamination, there are also a lot of devices for measuring radioactivity in food.  The new Japanese standard requires less than 100 Bq/kg of contamination in food.

This food testing equipment was developed by a Russian company. The Russians bring years of experience to the table, having dealt with Chernobyl and other nuclear hotspots for many years.

In addition to community work crews, cleantech industry executives, government officials, we also saw a very concerned segment of the population: Mothers with babies concerned about their future.

This looks like a Jetson Era vaccum cleaner, but it's really a beta contamination detector designed for scanning homes and schools for contamination

Helicopters with special sensors are used to monitor remote areas.

This machine is designed to decontaminate surfaces.

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Joi Ito, right, with Sean Bonner, Tokyo April 2011, Photo by Paulo Mendes

Safecast continues to make news with its rapid collection and dissemination of radiation data since the Fukushima Daiichi disaster.  Safecast Co-Founder and Advisor Joi Ito continues to make news in the realm of technology, innovation, open data, and new ways of thinking.

Those who have been lucky to work with Joi will attest to the contagious nature of his enthusiasm for technology solutions to meet human needs.  MIT Technology Review covers Joi. Safecast, and Media Lab under Joiʻs direction in this interesting article.

In addition to his position as Director of MIT Media Lab, Joi is also Chairman of Creative Commons, and sits on the Board of New York Times, MacArthur Foundation and Knight Foundation.  He is also a board member of Witness, an organization focused on human rights.

Joi was also named by Businessweek as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Web in 2008. In 2011, Ito was chosen by Nikkei Business as one of the 100 most influential people for the future of Japan and by Foreign Poicy Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers”. In 2011, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oxford Internet Institute in recognition of his role as one of the world’s leading advocates of Internet freedom.

Thank you, Joi, for the great work you are doing, and for your continued support of Safecast, radiation detection and mapping,  and open transparent data!

In early meeting of what has become Safecast, Joi (r) confers with Sean Bonner (Safecast Global Operations Director), Pieter Franken (Safecast Japan Director), and Dan Sythe (r to l) on how to rapidly deploy radiation monitoring devices and publish the data. Tokyo, April, 2011. Photo by Paulo Mendes

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