Fukushima’s nuclear signature found in California wine

Re:Fukushima’s nuclear signature found in California wine by oceanghost on Thursday July 19, 2018 @12:50PM (#17568134)

This wouldn't surprise me even a little. I was living in Anaheim at the time of the disaster, and background radiation levels were elevated for so long that I got bored of checking. A normal reading might have been 0.08 - 0.15mSv, and it was super common to see readings in the 0.40-0.50mSv range for months at a time.

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Re:Fukushima’s nuclear signature found in California wine by foxyv on Thursday July 19, 2018 @01:17PM (#17568451)

After the disaster my professor measured increases in radioactivity to try and determine if there was any increase in background radiation from man made sources. Unfortunately even our liquid nitrogen cooled gallium detector couldn't find anything. I think you need a mass spectrometer to really detect any change in California. (Fukushima itself is a different matter!)

Variation in radiation levels of the magnitude you are showing can be caused by many different sources, most of which are natural. Sun spots, changes in the upper atmosphere, cat sleeping on the detector, etc...

EditNote: We definitely could still detect the consequences of Chernobyl and atmospheric weapons testing. Fukushima didn't come close to touching the contamination from THAT

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Re:Fukushima’s nuclear signature found in California wine by oceanghost on Thursday July 19, 2018 @04:49PM (#17570140)

Interesting to know, thank you.

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Re:Fukushima’s nuclear signature found in California wine by TimTheTinker on Thursday July 19, 2018 @01:04PM (#17568332)

Obligatory xkcd (chart only, not a comic): https://xkcd.com/radiation/

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