[ RadSafe ] High Radioactivity Particles in Japanese House Dusts

Sun Apr 20 19:42:46 CDT 2014

This apparently is sponsored by "safecast"  - another "open science" forum.  

http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/safecast-open-information/

Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 19, 2014, at 6:00 AM, Roger Helbig <rwhelbig at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Perhaps someone should make the American Public Health Association aware of
> the many holes in this paper's research before it is presented at their
> annual meeting in New Orleans.
> 
> Roger Helbig
> 
> I would think that the very title is in fact suspect since these particles
> may be radioactive and may be higher than normal near zero levels, but they
> most certainly are not "High" radioactivity since no radiation sickness or
> death has resulted -
> On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 10:06 AM, Jaro Franta <jaro_10kbq at videotron.ca>wrote:
> 
>> FYI, in case you haven’t seen this already:
>> 
>> http://www.bostonchemicaldata.com/wpi/mKaltofenNagoya2014.pdf
>> 
>> High Radioactivity Particles in Japanese House Dusts
>> Marco Kaltofen, Nuclear Science and Engineering
>> 
>> Hypothesis: The Fukushima Dai‐ichi accident released very high activity
>> inhalable dust particles that travelled long distances.
>> Introduction: The 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami in Northeastern
>> Japan led to damages to four of the six nuclear power units at the
>> Fukushima
>> Dai‐ichi Station. Radiological materials escaped from the reactor units at
>> the power plant site via air‐borne plumes of contaminated gases, aerosols
>> and particles, and by contaminated wastewaters.
>> Airborne dusts can transport radioactive materials as isolated individual
>> particles containing high concentrations of radioisotopes. Alpha and beta
>> emissions related to fission wastes and dispersed fuel particles are
>> hazardous when inhaled or ingested. Radioactively‐contaminated
>> environmental dusts can accumulate in indoor spaces, potentially causing
>> significant radiation exposures to humans via inhalation, dermal contact,
>> and ingestion. These heterogeneously distributed hot particles can be
>> difficult to detect and measure, making it likewise difficult to determine
>> radiation dose to residents of contaminated areas.
>> 
>> Methods: Dust samples contaminated with Fukushima‐related fission products
>> were identified using gamma spectrometry. A set of high activity hot
>> particles were isolated from the house dusts by autoradiography and
>> physical
>> separation of identified hot spots on air filter media. After isolation,
>> hot
>> particles were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy/energydispersive X
>> ‐ray analysis. (SEM/EDS).
>> 
>> Results: The median total activity of eighty four Japanese bulk house dust
>> samples studied was 2.5 KBq kg‐1. The mean total activity was 71.6 KBq kg‐
>> 1 with σ = 339 KBq kg‐1. Most of the activity detected was due to 134Cs,
>> 137Cs, 60Co and 226Ra. Short‐lived 131I decayed away after gamma spectral
>> measurements were made, but before hot particle analyses were completed.
>> Cesium isotopes were in concentration ratios definitive for Fukushima
>> discharges.
>> The large difference between the mean and median resulted from the
>> contributions of two samples with activities above 1.0 MBq kg‐1 and a
>> micron‐scaled particle with activity greater than 1.0 PBq kg‐1. The
>> particle was collected from a home in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya is 460 km from
>> the accident site. The particle’s activity was 310 Bq as measured by gamma
>> spectrometry. Its beta activity was 285 Bq. It contained both fission
>> products and decay products of 238U at percent levels. X‐ray microanalysis
>> of this particle mapped varying concentrations of tellurium up to 48.0 %,
>> cesium up to 15.6 %, rubidium up to 1.22 %, polonium up to 1.19 %,
>> dysprosium up to 0.18 %, as well as trace amounts of tin, lead, nickel,
>> iron, and chromium. The very hot particle has a calculated volume of no
>> more
>> than 0.0012 mm3. Based on its composition as measured by SEM/EDS, its
>> density is about 3.6 g cm‐3.
>> NaI gamma and EDS spectrometry of hot particles found 226Ra, 134Cs, and
>> 137Cs, 241Am, and 230Th as the most commonly detected gamma photon‐emitting
>> isotopes. Autoradiographic, gamma spectral and SEM/EDS results demonstrated
>> that qualitatively similar particles were present in about 25 % of dusts
>> sampled. This quartile of the samples was contaminated with 134Cs, an
>> indicator contaminant for the reactor accident, and was
>> autoradiographically
>> positive for hot particles. SEM analysis showed that the majority of these
>> hot particles were 10 um or less in size, meaning that they were
>> potentially
>> inhalable.
>> 
>> Conclusion: Radioactively‐hot particles on the respirable size range were
>> routinely detected, with one as far as 460 km from the release site.
>> 
>> Research support from: Safecast.jp, D.C. Medich, Ph.D., C.H.P., Microvision
>> Labs., and Mr. Jun Ohnishi of Namie, Japan.
>> Presented at Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3/19/14. Invited for
>> presentation at the 2014 APHA meeting in New Orleans, LA.
>> 
>> =================================
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Dan McCarn
>> Sent: April-05-14 9:24 PM
>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear-News Claims] Extremely radioactive
>> particle
>> found in Japan - 300 miles from Fukushima - News banned in Japan
>> 
>> Jaro:
>> 
>> Yep, black sands, also found in abundance in coastal areas of India. Since
>> there is a fair amount of Zr, the mineral Zircon (ZrSiO4) may also contain
>> up to several % U.
>> http://www.mindat.org/min-4421.html
>> 
>> Heavy mineral placers, either modern or ancient are almost always
>> radioactive and frequently occur in beach placers or stream placers because
>> they are "heavy" and differentiate themselves by either longshore drift
>> (beach placers) or in stream placers.
>> 
>> Dan ii
>> 
>> Dan W McCarn, Geologist
>> 108 Sherwood Blvd
>> Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
>> +1-505-672-2014 (Home - New Mexico)
>> +1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
>> HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
>> 
>> 
>> On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 9:18 AM, Jaro Franta <jaro_10kbq at videotron.ca>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Thanks for the additional hints.
>>> 
>>> I pasted the video screen grabs next to an ORIGEN graphic showing a
>>> pie chart of fission product activity after 3 years post-shut down:
>>> Evidently some important species are missing.
>>> In the second picture, I pasted the video screen grabs next to Wiki's
>>> description of Monazite - some good matches there.
>>> 
>>> https://db.tt/DgFLkgzW
>>> 
>>> https://db.tt/2AnuJ5SU
>>> 
>>> FYI, there is also a transcript of the video sound track here:
>>> http://fairewinds.org/hottest-particle/
>>> 
>>> Kaltofen talks about "black sand," claiming that "this material was
>>> vaporized during the accident. It condenses into these small particles
>>> and then they aggregate."
>>> Hmm.. I thought that condensed ceramic material takes the form of tiny
>>> spheres - that's not what I see in the video.
>>> 
>>> Besides that, isn't Monazite typically in the form of "black sand" ?
>>> Like the stuff seen in this great video of a beach in Guarapari, Brazil:
>>> http://youtu.be/RvgAx1yIKjg
>>> Isn't that the same stuff that was found on a California beach a
>>> couple of months ago and blamed on Fukushima ? .was that Kaltofen also ?
>>> 
>>> Kaltofen adds that "The particle that we examined was a mixture of
>>> fission products from a nuclear reactor and nuclear fuels. We looked
>>> at materials like Telurium, Radium 226."
>>> But while there is no significant Radium 226 activity in irradiated
>>> fuel, there is plenty in uranium ore that may be associated with
>> Monazite.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Jaro
>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Brad Keck
>>> Sent: April-05-14 12:51 AM
>>> To: ROY HERREN; The International Radiation Protection (Health
>>> Physics) Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear-News Claims] Extremely radioactive
>>> particle found in Japan - 300 miles from Fukushima - News banned in
>>> Japan
>>> 
>>> There were 2 screenshots purporting to be related to chemical or
>>> radiochemical analysis.  The there was an energy dispersive x-ray
>>> spectrum in which Si was by far the most abundant peak -  little
>>> detail was provided, but assuming silicon is the most abundant
>>> element,  I don't see how this is nuclear fuel related, even without
>>> criticizing the other elemental ID's, which I am sure deserve some
>>> criticism.
>>> 
>>> A second set of images shows photomicrographs with Ce, Zr, Y, Eu, Sm
>>> typed in over the image - no data or rationale provided.  I presume
>>> they are suggesting these ID's result from gamma spectroscopy, rather
>>> than chemical analysis.  Although it is hard to make heads or tails of
>>> it with the lack of details, I didn't find any element of it to hold
>>> together technically.  But I am sure readers of RadSafe are not the
>>> intended audience.  :)
>>> 
>>> Brad
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Apr 4, 2014, at 10:38 PM, ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> On the screen one sees on the video at
>>>> http://nuclear-news.net/2014/04/04/extremely-radioactive-particle-fo
>>>> un d-in-japan-300-miles-from-fukushima-news-banned-in-japan/
>>>> there is a graphic at 9:21/17:21, 11:30/17:21, and 12:23 -
>>>> 12:34/17:21 that shows Ce, Zr, Y, Eu, Sm on the upper left hand side
>>>> of the screen
>>> and
>>> Ce, Fe, La, Nd, Sm on the upper right hand side of the screen.  At
>>> which frame did you see the Si, Rb, O, Cs, Te, Sn, Fe, Pb, etc.?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Roy Herren
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: Jaro Franta <jaro_10kbq at videotron.ca>
>>>> To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
>>>> List' <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
>>>> Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 6:31 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear-News Claims] Extremely radioactive
>>>> particle found in Japan - 300 miles from Fukushima - News banned in
>>>> Japan
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Where did you see "Ce, Zr, Eu, Sm" ?
>>>> 
>>>> On this screen grab from the video, all I see is Si, Rb, O, Cs, Te,
>>>> Sn, Fe, Pb, etc.
>>>> 
>>>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11686324/Extremely%20radioactive
>>>> %2
>>>> 0parti
>>>> cle%20found%20in%20Japan%20-%20%20300%20miles%20from%20Fukushima.jpg
>>>> 
>>>> The Si peak might perhaps be for Si-31 (153y HL), but it's a weird
>>>> combination of isotopes.
>>>> 
>>>> Jaro
>>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>>>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of ROY HERREN
>>>> Sent: April-04-14 8:27 PM
>>>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
>>>> List
>>>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear-News Claims] Extremely radioactive
>>>> particle found in Japan - 300 miles from Fukushima - News banned in
>>>> Japan
>>>> 
>>>> What I saw flashed up on the screen said "Ce, Zr, Eu, Sm".  In the
>>>> past I've had problems releasing Sm153 material due to Eu
>>>> contamination.  Couldn't the Eu and Sm be the result of a medical
>>>> isotope treatment, see http://www.rxlist.com/quadramet-drug.htm?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Roy Herren
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: Brad Keck <bradkeck at mac.com>
>>>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
>>>> List <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
>>>> Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 12:03 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear-News Claims] Extremely radioactive
>>>> particle found in Japan - 300 miles from Fukushima - News banned in
>>>> Japan
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Isn't it amazing that the one hottest hot particle in all of Japan,
>>>> just 10 microns in diameter, just happened to get stuck on the blade
>>>> of the razor knife used to "sample "'the vacuum cleaner bags, or it
>>>> would have been lost for all time ?  Now what are the odds?  :)
>>>> 
>>>> Interestingly the one x-ray spectrum they show looks a lot like some
>>>> sort of silicate - imagine a silicate being found in dust - AMAZING!
>>>> 
>>>> Happy Friday, Everybody!
>>>> 
>>>> Bradly D Keck
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Apr 4, 2014, at 4:23 AM, Roger Helbig <rwhelbig at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Has all the red flags that activists salivate at - even "news
>>>>> banned in Japan" - probably because it is not news!
>>>>> 
>>>>> Roger Helbig
>>>>> 
>>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>>> From: nuclear-news <comment-reply at wordpress.com>
>>>>> Date: Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 8:42 PM
>>>>> Subject: [New post] Extremely radioactive particle found in Japan -
>>>>> 300 miles from Fukushima - News banned in Japan
>>>>> 
>>>>> arclight2011part2 posted: " Published on 3 Apr 2014 A highly
>>>>> radioactive particle of suspected Fukushima core material was found
>>>>> in house dust in Nagoya, Japan. This home is 460 kilometers (300
>>>>> miles) from the accident site. This one microscopic dust particle
>>>>> has enough rad"
>>>>> 
>>>>> Extremely radioactive particle found in Japan - 300 miles from
>>>>> Fukushima - News banned in Japan
>>>>> 
>>>>> by arclight2011part2
>>>>> 
>>>>> Published on 3 Apr 2014
>>>>> 
>>>>> A highly radioactive particle of suspected Fukushima core material
>>>>> was found in house dust in Nagoya, Japan. This home is 460
>>>>> kilometers
>>>>> (300
>>>>> miles) from the accident site. This one microscopic dust particle
>>>>> has enough radioactivity to be a real health hazard.
>>>>> 
>>>>> arclight2011part2 | April 4, 2014 at 3:41 am | URL:
>>>>> http://wp.me/phgse-gWB
>>>>> 
>>>>> Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser:
>>>> http://nuclear-news.net/2014/04/04/extremely-radioactive-particle-fo
>>>> un d-in-j apan-300-miles-from-fukushima-news-banned-in-japan/
>> 
>> 
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