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 Tucson - Consistently High/Elevated? 
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Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 6:02 pm
Posts: 3
Hi,

I've been watching Tucson Arizona for almost 2 weeks now and it's remained elevated compared to the rest of the US. What in the world is going on here? I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments.

BTW, I'm enjoying the site. I may be interested in seeing how I can help/contribute data.


Sun Feb 07, 2016 6:09 pm
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Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:04 pm
Posts: 164
Location: Toronto Canada
Most of the EPA beta sites (starting with a 4:) show a seasonal pattern when you look at the 5 year 1-day average charts (this example is from Phoenix). The best explanation I have seen for this is wash-down of airborne radioactive particles, but I don't know if it rains this often in Arizona.
Image

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https://netc.com/chart/view.php?n=1%3A919A925A.5 Toronto, Ontario, Canada SBM-20 indoors


Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:09 pm
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Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 6:02 pm
Posts: 3
Hmmm. It hasn't rained there recently that I'm aware of. It's usually dry until monsoon season from what I've been told. I passed through there last week and it was high (compared to other cities) that day as well and extremely dry. I notice right now its 150 CPM.

I don't have access to the charts yet. I'm new here. Maybe I need to join to get access to that?

Can someone explain why the EPA Beta sites are higher? I read someplace else that they may often turn up with higher counts. In plain english.. why so?

Thanks Bert, for entertaining a newbie here ;)


Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:44 pm
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Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:04 pm
Posts: 164
Location: Toronto Canada
The EPA Beta sites use air filters to catch particles such as Radon decay products or accidental release particles, so they tend to go higher when something appears. Some of the private sites use filters as well.

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https://netc.com/chart/view.php?n=1%3A919A925A.5 Toronto, Ontario, Canada SBM-20 indoors


Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:18 am
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Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 6:02 pm
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Well, I've looked at some of the other EPA sites and they are drastically lower in count than the one in Phoenix and Tucson. Take a look yourself. Something very strange happening and it's very consistent there. The other EPA sites are much lower around the country.

It seems to me that Tucson and Phoenix should be on everyone's radar. Perhaps we need more readings in that area to discern what's going on. All I can say, is something doesn't add up here.

Thanks for your input Bert. Much appreciated. :)


Fri Mar 04, 2016 6:04 pm
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Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:40 pm
Posts: 2885
Location: Illinois
I'm all for more private NETC outside monitoring stations, that would be great!

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MY OUTSIDE RADIATION MONITORING STATION:
South Beloit, Illinois - GMC200 Outside on HEPA air purifier, ground level, facing West.
http://netc.com/chart/view.php?n=1%3AEB5A139C


Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:26 pm
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Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 6:44 pm
Posts: 15
Palo Verde NPP is 25 miles from Phoenix, Tucson downwind as well. Largest USA NPP.

Airports are the easiest way to determine prevailing wind direction, they spend quite some time/money to build one. A fast/accurate method.

A small private group could easy/quick set up some detectors, say, 1 mile/5/10/20, staged, between a plant and a 'target' zone downwind. Not hard or expensive.
I'm surprised that is not a mandatory 'gov' program.

Palo Verde has steadily changed out fuel, there are now over 120 'dry cask' containers on the pad, in open air. I'm sure they check/monitor.
And every shutdown/fuel changeout has risk of fallout. ;)

Just my guess/$.02


Mon Mar 07, 2016 3:33 pm
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Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:40 pm
Posts: 2885
Location: Illinois
Look how the original Fukushima radiation plume notification was handled by the U.S. government.

I fully do not expect to be notified in a timely manner by any government official or agency (state or federal) in the event of a nuclear plant accident/meltdown. It is this reason that we need more private stations, preferably outside monitoring units like mine (link below) and St. Charles in Illinois.

_________________
MY OUTSIDE RADIATION MONITORING STATION:
South Beloit, Illinois - GMC200 Outside on HEPA air purifier, ground level, facing West.
http://netc.com/chart/view.php?n=1%3AEB5A139C


Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:55 am
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Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:04 pm
Posts: 164
Location: Toronto Canada
Well I would say the readings around 150 CPM are completely normal for Phoenix this time of year, looking at the 5 year seasonal variations posted previously. A couple of times late last year it was over 400, just like the previous 5 years. This time it was on Nov 23 and Dec 9. Other than rain I can't think of any other annual event that could explain this.

The Gamma charts show the same thing, except this time (Dec 9 event) was particularly high:
Image.
If I were living in the area and got an Alert email from Netc, I imagine myself driving around with a geiger counter to see it it was isolated geographically.
By the way, one really cool feature of membership here is getting the date and time of any reading just by hovering your mouse on the graphs (these of course are pasted images so won't show that in this posting).

Edit: Phoenix has sensor data on uRADMonitor.com and GMCMap.com, but these do not show unusually high readings over the past month, same as the nearby NETC private stations. These could all be indoors though.

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https://netc.com/chart/view.php?n=1%3A919A925A.5 Toronto, Ontario, Canada SBM-20 indoors


Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:26 pm
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