Working Link for Kaltofen's presentation

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2011-11-01 07:01

Berkeley Radiological Air and Water Monitoring Forum

Posted by BC 11/1

http://www.fairewinds.com/content/marco-kaltofen-presentation-apha

More questions than answers, for me at least.

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i understand air filters

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 11:44.

i understand air filters catch particles . two of three showed presence of hot particles . If u need more data I would venture EPA air filters during April would show similar particles and isotopes .

"Can someone provide me with or direct me to an accepted or clear definition of " hot particle"?

Harry,
Without digging up references, I don't think there is a precise definition.
It is a generic/qualitative term. Official documents usually say something
like "Highly radioactive ("Hot") particle"
If you can't see it, but it is localized and sends your meters off-scale
then you can call it a hot particle. They became famous in NPP's, typically
a result of compromised nuclear fuel, measure in single micrometers or even
nanometers, and are big beta emitters with big dose rates.
The real issues are: knowing that they exist, how to look for them and what
to do about calculating dose when you find one.

For more info, I'd Google "Radioactive hot particle NRC"

Sincerely,

Neill Stanford, CHP
Stanford Dosimetry, LLC

http://health.phys.iit.edu/archives/2010-May/028726.html

Also, don't people find it

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 07:30.

Also, don't people find it sort of odd that his data shows Americium for some reason. Yet there is no peak at 4 keV for the Cesium x ray. I am guessing he mislabeled the peaks as Americium and they are most likely some other element.

fallout

Submitted by Red Mercury (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 11:29.

Americium on the East Coast could be from any upwind source. A discarded smoke detector that ended up in a rubbish burn could be the source.

When the material was ejected from reactor 3 it was catapulted or shot like stuffing out of a cannon so it does stand to reason that the material with the greatest density would gain the greatest altitude entering the fastest moving part of the jet stream, starting the process of separating from the rest of the material.

WRONG!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 2011-11-05 16:13.

WRONG!! You evidently didn't take Physics 101.

The material with the greatest density is going to LAG, and achieve the lowest, not the highest altitude.

Red Mercury- Looks to me

Submitted by BC (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 16:43.

Red Mercury-

Looks to me from the slideshow that the Am-241 was from Tokyo.

Almost correct

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2012-02-06 14:12.

You're close. The samples with particles that contained americium were from Ibaraki, North of Tokyo. Our group did not detect americium particles in the US, only in Japan. Any US samples with americium in them come from place like Los Alamos and Hanford, WA, where it's more expected, and is likely to predate the accidents at Fukushima Daiichi.

M. Kaltofen, WPI

Both of those statements are

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 11:41.

Both of those statements are not true. First, Am coming from rubish burn containing smoke detectors can account for Am; however, the amount of smoke detectors in the pile would have to be fairly large. I assume that no one has thousands of smoke detectors they are setting on fire outside their house.

Am from the reactor is unlikely this far out since it is heavier, it tends to not get carried far. In addition, measurements of Am from the reactor would make more sense if the presence of Np, Pu, and Ca were also detected. However that is not the case. Most likely the Am is a mislabeled peak. Which is fairly common, TEPCO has done it before too.

Both of those statements are

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 11:41.

fallout

Submitted by Red Mercury (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 21:30.

Americium as detected from a hot particle would most likely be the result of gases condensing on the particle as it traveled into the jet stream. Condensation is a classic method of separating substances so the particle of whatever that contained Am could easily have Am and only Am as it's emitting source.

Also possible but but I think of a lesser likelyhood is the more local creation of the hot particle. The Am containing particle could have been generated closer to the point of detection as Am melts at temperatures below the operating temperatures of municipal incinerators and particle with a trace of Am could have made it out the smokestack. It would take a tiny fraction from ONE discarded smoke detector to make a hot particle.

The presence of Cesium and

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 07:27.

The presence of Cesium and Iodine fallout all over east Japan, specially in Fukushima but also the prefectures to the south including Tokyo was confirmed by the Japanese Ministry of Science the week following the accident. Fallout means contamination of soil and redistribution because of the wind, which would be trapped by air filters and stick to shoes or any kind of surface for that matter. What I don't understand is where did Arnie Gundersen get the idea that the data confirmed the presence of "fuel flues" in Japan and specially in Seattle.

+1 for USA "fuel fleas".

Submitted by BC (not verified) on Tue, 2011-11-01 16:48.

+1 for USA "fuel fleas". Apparently he did find some Am-241 in Tokyo dust.

I would like very much to see the non-slideshow version of this information. After 6 months of reading every damned thing I can on the subject, I think I can handle it - show me the where the sample came from, what the levels are, etc.

I have full respect for Mr. Kaltofen, but I hope there is more data forthcoming.