First rainstorms of 2012: Please verify huge radiation spike detected

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2012-01-20 10:41

Hello all,

I've been monitoring readings from personal dosimeter that I leave outside in several layers of ziploc bags (with dissicant) since the Fukushima events last year.

The cumulative reading nearly DOUBLED from 65 to 126 mREM overnight with exposure to the first light rains of the upcoming series of storms. Please let me know if your data corroborate this finding, and if so, whether there is a process defined for notifying the public of the danger, so they can avoid unnecessary exposure (e.g. at big football games) clean raingear after exposure, etc.

rainwater_spike.PNG

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On Jan. 13 in Vancouver, BC,

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2012-01-25 00:02.

On Jan. 13 in Vancouver, BC, background levels measured inside a house were more than twice the normal background, i.e., 70 cpm instead of around 30. I don't think your equipment is faulty at all.

Faulty equipment.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2012-01-21 00:55.

Faulty equipment.

I second MadMama's question

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2012-01-21 10:58.

I second MadMama's question on location. Also, as I have already mentioned, can the OP please rule out any obvious medically related sources? Those types of things can give relatively large exposures in a short time.

FWIW I have a contact who has a pretty cool little rainwater measuring set-up. He does not have spectrometry equipment, just gross decays-per-second (pancake style high count detector). This most recent west coast rain has shown a slightly elevated initial activity that declines very rapidly - has to be radon daughters. Also, levels were maybe ~50% higher than background, certainly no way that would give like an 80 millirem exposure in 24 hours. Also, my own little toot wanna be geiger counter doesn't show jack in this rain, but that is to be expected unless there was a lot of radiation in there.

BC 1/21/12

Yes. The jetstream + rain

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2012-01-22 00:32.

Yes. The jetstream + rain hit Los Angeles last night. We ran a 10-minute average on a rain sample with our Inspector Alert this morning. It read 60% over background, but decayed away to below background within several hours.

I've seen photos of a great real time rainwater measuring set up on Radiation Network. Wish my husband were that handy ;0) ... making do with the paper towel/paper plate method.

Thank you for this info.

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2012-01-20 22:49.

Thank you for this info. Where was this reading taken?

MadMama