Skip to content

Category: Environment

Geiger Counters, Radioactive Water and a Wall of Ice

Published August 31, 2013 by Dan

We are generally dedicated to Geiger Counters – the noble tool that lets us see and learn about the invisible realm of radiation that ionizes.

We also post about  radiation detection in general.

We get many questions about radiation detection.  We use this blog as a tool to answer as many of them as we can in one place that we can refer people to.   We try to keep the content understandable by lay people to the best of our abilities, while keeping it also relevant and useful for professional health physics, public safety and security people.

Radiation detection is a big conversation.  There are new technologies to discuss, basic physics for those just entering the arena, and general learning about equipment.

Unfortunately, news about Fukushima Daiichi is troubling, and it is dominating peopleʻs attention these days.  We apologize for diverging from the geiger counter conversation, but it is becoming evident that Daiichi is something we need to be concerned about.  See CNN story.  Itʻs not as bad as some people claim it is, but there are many challenging problems yet  to be overcome.   We wish those responsible for the cleanup good luck, and we hope the workers will get medals, recognition, lifetime medical care, health monitoring, and benefits for their families.  Itʻs a gnarly situation and they are some of the heroes who are risking their personal well being for the rest of us.

Itʻs heartening that the Japanese government is jumping in to play a greater role in managing the emergency, and that outside advisors are being used.   See related Reuters article.  The situation is forcing “outside the box” thinking.   A “Wall of Ice” is being proposed as a way to stabilize the problems with groundwater.   See MIT Technology Review article.

Finally back to Geiger Counters: Japan Post (think the equivalent of US Postal Service) is partnering with nonprofit Safecast to get more granular data into the maps jointly developed with MIT Media Lab and Keio University.  See video (in Japanese).

Letʻs all wish Japan luck getting the Fukushima Daiichi situation under control.  Weʻll try to get back to more articles on geiger counters and radiation detection, including how to do basic testing of water, air, food.

Share
Comments closed

Inside the World of Radiation Droids, and Inside the Droids Themselves

Published January 3, 2013 by Dan
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 Japan?s 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 worldwide. 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 countries, 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. Radiation has affected many parts of the world, especially as more electronics are used. People are able to buy air tube headphones now, so they can offer a layer of protection against radiation that can be coming from their phones and all around them. Hopefully, this becomes a staple in day to day life for most.

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. This meant that hundreds of people could have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation or even radon gas. Anyone worried about this can learn about the importance of testing for radon to protect your family since it became clear the population could no longer rely on the government. 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 let?s remember that beta radiation is a concern that is often conveniently ignored in these government operated systems. Let?s 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!

Share
Comments closed