The levels of all species are continuing to decline?
Thanks for posting the 4/18 air results.
I have a question about the "The levels of all species are
continuing to decline" statement. While I-131 appears to be
declining, I don't see that with Cs-137. Below is the last 11
measurements for Cs-137. The levels seem to have stablized.
But, does the BRAWM team actually feel the level of that
isotope is declining? Or is it simply leveling off?
4.5E-08
5.8E-08
1.2E-07
3E-08
5.4E-08
5.5E-08
3.4E-08
4.9E-08
3.4E-08
2.1E-08
3.2E-08
Also, can you explain why the MDA level changes with every
result?
bump again
bump again
bump!
bump!
another bump
another bump
anyone care to respond. i'm curious too
nt
Bump
BRAWM team?
pick a bale of cotton, pick a bale of hay
there is no possible way the amount of radiation could be leveling off, given the ongoing radiation plume from the fukushima dai-ichi reactors and partially/completely damaged fuel rod pools.
Note that the context is
Note that the context is *air sampling*. As that which has been released into the atmosphere decays and/or gets deposited onto the surface of the planet, the concentration of radionuclides in the air can and will stabilize and then decrease. Unless of course the releases at Fukushima continue at the same pace or increase. Note: I think the releases continue but not at the pace seen during the earlier stages of the disaster.
Decreasing air concentrations is in general a good thing, but one has to remember that some of the decreases simply mean that a radionuclide has gone from being in the air to being on the soil or in bodies of water where it will continue to pose a threat for months, decades, and in some cases much longer.
Dozens of radionuclides have been released and Berkeley is reporting concentrations for roughly five of them.
Could be leveling off
Leveling off isn't beyond the realm of possibility. Maybe
not going away completely, but leveling off. None of us
know for sure how much was released and at what rate it
continues to be released. But, if there was a large initial
release, and now is releasing at a lower rate, we could see
a decreasing amount here. The BRAWM team measurements for
air and rainwater seem to show that. The measurements are
well off their highs. If we are still getting a "plume" from
Fukushima, we may keep getting lower level readings for some
time.