Air update (6/25)

Understandable and certainly defensible, Mark, but here's my concern: With BRAWM's imminent suspension / cessation of regular air quality monitoring, where can the general public turn for detailed information in future, and who will man the battlements on our behalf? EPA's outsourced RadNet system is, at best, a canary in a coal mine; its broad-range, near-realtime reporting can document the symptoms, if you will, but is virtually incapable of ascertaining the cause, and can therefore offer up nothing in the way of diagnosis; with no clear explanation of what provided gamma- and beta-energy ranges actually MEAN, this purported comprehensive radiation-monitoring failsafe is in practice only minimally more useful than the noble, but necessarily amateurish ad hockey "Radiation Network" civilian initiative. (No insult intended to that fine and dedicated group of radiological town criers.)

Here's my main concern, Mark: Since May 23rd, I haven't heard a darned thing from TEPCO, the Japanese government, or the IAEA -- or anyone else for that matter -- about the efforts that were underway to CONSTANTLY MONITOR airborne emissions from Buildings 1 through 4 at Fukushima. This much-ballyhooed initiative was going to involve the placement of radiation sensors on cranes that were to have been moved into position directly above the shattered reactor housings, offering constant insight into what manner of exotic matter might be puffing out from Fukushima-Daiichi into the general environment. For some reason or other, following a very few, very preliminary results over a full month ago, this effort was either abandoned entirely, or else its conclusions were buried and have yet to see the light of day. Without such monitoring, how are we to know if radiological releases surge once more? Many of us have grown, to put it mildly, a little suspicious of TEPCO's commitment to transparency, decision-making abilities, crisis-management philosophy, good judgement and even motives. It would be nice to be able to rely upon a secondary level of professional monitoring -- a "defense in depth", if you will, to (even if only from a very great distance) ensure that no further "funny business " is going to pass unnoticed and unheralded.

Might we be able to prevail upon you at least to consider maintaining some manner of "passive" air monitoring -- publishing only as needed to alert the public to an unexpected rise in atmospheric radionuclide levels at Berkeley? That way, we could at least rest assured that if ever there WERE significant future releases from Fukushima, SOMEONE responsible and transparent would be watching, and willing to sound the alarm to alert the sleeping villagers.

Best always, thanks.

All your information has been greatly appreciated.

Hope you will remain on standby in the event something significant happens in Japan. Let's hope all goes well.

Thanks again!!!

Thanks, again. I can see the degree of refinement necessary to acquire the data. I am amazed.

Excellent!

Thank you Mark and BRAWM.