Monday, March 28, 2011

US Radiation Monitoring Maps

Click the maps to go to their sites.

Government Run Map: EPA's RadNet Air Monitoring Data (Updated "continuously.") This EPA map seems to be experiencing difficulties. Could be:
EPA Press Release from Sunday, March 27, 2011:
"As a result of the incident with the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, several EPA air monitors have detected very low levels of radioactive material in the United States.

There have been reports received that the states of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have seen elevated levels of radiation in recent precipitation events. EPA is reviewing this data – however, in both cases these are levels above the normal background levels historically reported in these areas."
Did they mean to say "below" background levels?



Privately Run Map: Radiation Network, a "nationwide grass roots effort to monitor the radiation in our environment." Run by Mineralab who sells the geiger counters if you want to take part. (Updated every minute.)


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5 comments:

manu said...

to get a general idea of europe (only france available)

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/Documents/france.htm

some appear to be up others down from the 2010 average. We have a buffer in the united states when you guys start to worry then I'll start buying tin foil ;)

Bix said...

Great map, manu. I like that they give a relative meaning right there on the dot.

I'm having a tough time relating all these different units ... rads and greys and sieverts.

manu said...

I wouldn't worry too much, there are enough paranoid people with geiger counters out there to raise alarm when they detect harmful levels of radiation. I know that geiger counters are no good for atmospheric radiation but we have to trust the scientific establishment and their institutes to monitor the situation.

What we should really be concerned about is the radiation in the sea, no one will be measuring that one (apart from the immediate vicinity of fukushima) and as you said it will have a tremendous impact in all kinds of pacific fish, not just salmon.

Chances are that now farmed raised salmon would be looked at higher than wild fish.

And if there's an increase in demand you know what that means? all the plans they had for genetically engineered salmon they had shelved due to public hostility now can come into play again as they will say GE salmon will be of greater wield and cheaper.

Bix said...

Oh, for crying out loud, the GE salmon. I hope they get labeled.

Bix said...

Just saw:

"Nuclear safety officials said on Wednesday that radioactive iodine in seawater outside the plant was 3,355 times more than the normal, a sign that contaminated water was leaking into the ocean."

Iodine-131, as I read, has a short half-life. 8 days? But cesium-137's half-life is 30 years, plutonium-238's is 88 years.

I suppose this is something we'll have to get used to? Either air pollution/acid rain/global warming from the burning of fossil fuels or radiation leaks from nuclear power generation/spent fuel storage.