Tired of being hyped by Fukushima, I have recorded 24/7 the background radiation in my apartment (for several days). It is pretty close to 0.1 micro Sievert/Hour all the time. In one year, that would add up to maybe 0.87 milli Sievert or so per year (8,700 hours per year). No need to be accurate since normal background radiation experienced by humans is about 3 milli Sievert per year (see link below). But this 0.1 micro Sievert/Hour is inside my apartment and San Diego is not one of the 'hotter' spots on earth.

If you are curious about background radiation, including the numbers I just mentioned, the link below from NASA is fun to read and has a lot of pretty pictures (which is what attracted me of course)..

http://hps.org/documents/environmental_radiation_fact_sheet.pdf

WELCOME to the forum!

I do not believe Fukushima is being hyped enough. Were your readings taken with your windows open during the complete time of tests? If not, how can the beta radiation reach your detector? What type of geiger counter did you use?

I have many 24/7 geiger counter stations and one of them is outside 24/7 to detect beta radiation but also on a air purifier to increase the detection of what is in the air.

Thanks for the response. Using GMC-300E. Have walked several miles up and down the street comparing readings in bushes and other places of bioaccumulation and do see very small but clear evidence of that. Levels are 40% to 50% higher than the low levels inside on average. All very low.

Since making the post have seen significant and surprising differences between the daytime and nightime Netc national radiation map readings, however. For me, this is new.

Something is changing even here since making my post . Example: An unusually strong radiation spike ocurred that was 40 CPM or so for over a minute. The Netc San Diego site also showed RADCON level 3 at the time which is also unusual for that site. Changes over time using inside readings seem to be similar to those of the Netc local site. This confirms to me that the spike was likely real. Makes me suspect that using inside readings so far look like a solid basis for seeing relative changes. Levels are still low, but that rate of change due to the spike could be life threatening if it kept up even for a short time. There is your point about the need for hype.

The potential of Fukushima is real. No hype there obviously. It is important for me to follow the real developments as a means of developing confidence in the data so I can act on it with conviction. It was really troubling to read over time about the "west coast being fried" by Fukushima and see these low readings which were generally moving with the Netc map readings and therefore seemed real.

Jet stream changes seem to alter the radiation picture pretty quick. Maybe other things do that as well. This maybe contributes to Before its News "end of the world" radiation assessments that change before the reader gets to his equipment to confirm!

I am learning slowly as is usual. This is, after all life and death stuff we are talking about here. The Fukushima potential is so bad I don't want to talk about it because most people simply aren't able to grasp what is possible. Nature is also complex and subtle to the extent that we mere humans have a poor record of predicting radiation effects. Bikini atoll was full of surprises for many people.

Thanks again for all that you do, I joined because I have been seeing things in the EPA data that really bother me and need a site like this that is obviously honest and without an agenda.

I believe the recent Coast to Coast special on Fukushima is where I heard Arnie Gunderson (nuclear expert) talk about an outside air filtering system with geiger counter setup to sample air at the same rate as our breathing. The results recorded 10 hot radioactive particles taken in each day. Only one of those hot particles is needed to cause cancer in the body.

I believe it is always worse than what we know, only time will tell.

Thank you, GoldOriented for you comments. We, at Netc.com will always stay true to our beliefs of the mission to report radiation as it increases over time.
Harlan, Netc.com

Some "experts" say there is no safe level of radiation and others seem to say every "new" level is safe. In fact previous "safe" levels have been raised since Fukushima happened.

The BIG question is, do you trust that these new "safe" levels are really safe for you & your family?

History of nuclear accidents have shows that many lies are told in an attempt to keep the public calm and of course save money for the corporations. As a result, many people are exposed to more radiation than they would have been if told about it as soon as possible and directed to at least evacuate that area for a short time. This is why everyone needs to own at least one geiger counter. Most of this radiation contamination is not going away in our lifetime and longer.

Different state agencies openly admitted the fallout we received in the U.S. but again, you decide what is "safe" levels. Here is a good question... if the levels are so safe, why do they never seem to tell us what those levels are? What are the readings/measurements that they recorded?

http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=9304

Also remember that a nuclear accident is like a dirty bomb, the types and amount of radioactive material released is not controlled like it often is with normal operation releases of nuclear plants. The more I learn about all of this and how they spin the truth, it is very upsetting.

It is very upsetting to be threatened by something like radiation that is hard to measure and evaluate much of the time. IMO Fukushima could become an enormous problem almost overnight. That's why I come here.

Since there is said to be work on relocating rods from reactor 4 right now I am especially interested in watching radiation levels.

After a few more weeks I will have eough data from my GMC-300E for me to decide whether or not there is a long term trend and how fast it is trending. The statistics don't make that possible without a lot of data.

So far, I suspect that at this location things will be OK unless some new event happens at Fuku or the data starts relentlessly trending. But that could change quickly.

Hey, Gold Oriented, what does your detector say today- 1-5-14... NETC numbers look bad.