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Invisible for humans, but detectable for radiation-filters. A cloud with tiny levels of radioactivity, believed to originate from western Russia, has been detected over Scandinavia and European Arctic. First, in week 23 (June 2-8), iodine-131 was measured at the two air filter stations Svanhovd and Viksjøfjell near Kirkenes in short distance from Norway’s border to Russia’s Kola Peninsula. The same days, on June 7 and 8, the CTBTO-station at Svalbard measured tiny levels of the same isotope. CTBTO is the global network of radiological and seismic monitoring under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Norway’s nuclear watchdog, the DSA, underlines that...

the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force's iconic SR-71 Blackbird ... also incorporated then-state-of-the-art features to reduce its radar cross-section. These included a combination of a stealthy overall shape and radar-evading structures, as well as the use of composites in its construction, and the incorporation of radar absorbing materials on its skin. A far less known, but still a key component of the Skunk Works plan to make the A-12 harder to spot on radar involved a cesium-laced fuel additive to dramatically reduce the radar signature of the plane's massive engine exhausts and afterburner plumes by creating an ionizing cloud...

Researchers drew attention three years ago when they reported that a two-dimensional perovskite—a material with a specific crystal structure—composed of cesium, lead and bromine emitted a strong green light. Crystals that produce light on the green spectrum are desirable because green light, while valuable in itself, can also be relatively easily converted to other forms that emit blue or red light, making it especially important for optical applications ranging from light-emitting devices to sensitive diagnostic tools. But there was no agreement about how the crystal, CsPB2Br5, produced the green photoluminescence. Now, however, researchers from the United States, Mexico and China,...

Two security experts from the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory drove to San Antonio, Texas, in March 2017 with a sensitive mission: to retrieve dangerous nuclear materials from a nonprofit research lab there. Their task was to ensure that the radioactive materials did not fall into the wrong hands on the way back to Idaho, where the government maintains a stockpile of nuclear explosive materials for the military and others. To ensure they got the right items, the specialists from Idaho brought radiation detectors and small samples of dangerous materials to calibrate them: specifically, a plastic-covered disk of plutonium,...

Gangs with suspected Russian ties sought to sell radioactive material through Moldova to buyers from the Middle East, including the Islamic State group. CHISINAU, Moldova — In the backwaters of Eastern Europe, authorities working with the FBI have interrupted four attempts in the past five years by gangs with suspected Russian connections that sought to sell radioactive material to Middle Eastern extremists, The Associated Press has learned. The latest known case came in February this year, when a smuggler offered a huge cache of deadly cesium — enough to contaminate several city blocks — and specifically sought a buyer from...

Just as leap years keep our calendars lined up with Earth's revolution around the sun, leap seconds adjust for Earth's rotation. This kind of fine-tuning wasn't much of an issue before the invention of atomic clocks, whose ticks are defined by the cycling of atoms. Cesium-based clocks, one kind of atomic clock, measure the passage of time much more precisely than those based on the rotation of our planet, so adding a leap second allows astronomical time to catch up to atomic time. Most of us won't notice the addition, which happens at 23:59:59 coordinated universal time (UTC), or 7:59...

The radioactivity dispersion simulation JCOPE (Japan Coastal Ocean Predictability Experiment) by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), showing cesium-137 dispersion in the Pacific Ocean from March 21, 2011 to January 27, 2012. March 21, 2011 was when the high levels of radioactive materials from the seawater near the plant were first detected. Screenshots from their JCOPE page with the simulation animation (1/30/2012).

There have been a number of odd happenings recently at the plant. What they all mean right now is not totally clear. On January 2nd, the day after the widespread new years quake, the radioactive fallout levels in Fukushima and also in Chiba spiked. A weird white ash was reported by some in Chiba, no word if this is related in any way. On January 6th the cesium levels detected leaking out of unit 3′s intake canal tripled in one day. We still have no explanation for the rush of police cars, fire engines and two buses of workers to...

High radioactive cesium levels found at Tokyo school December 14, 2011 By TOMOKO SAITO / Staff Writer Radioactive cesium more than 10 times the standard for waste disposal has been detected on lawn covers that had been placed in a schoolyard from mid-March until early April at Horinouchi Elementary School in Tokyo's Suginami Ward. The measured value, 90,600 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, was more than triple the 26,400 becquerels contained in sludge at a sewage treatment facility in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, about 60 kilometers from the disabled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. "The cover, with its wide...

Cesium-137 deposits 50 times more than previous record BY YUMI NAKAYAMA STAFF WRITER TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Prefecture--Nearly 30,000 becquerels per square meter of cesium-137 fell on Tsukuba in March as a result of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the government's Meteorological Research Institute said Dec. 1.

Cesium from Fukushima plant fell all over Japan November 26, 2011 By HIROSHI ISHIZUKA / Staff Writer Radioactive substances from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have now been confirmed in all prefectures, including Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, about 1,700 kilometers from the plant, according to the science ministry. The ministry said it concluded the radioactive substances came from the stricken nuclear plant because, in all cases, they contained cesium-134, which has short half-life of two years. Before the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, radioactive substance were barely detectable in most areas. But the Ministry of Education, Culture,...

Radioactive cesium blankets 8% of Japan's land area November 21, 2011 By HIROSHI ISHIZUKA / Staff Writer Some 8 percent of Japan's land area, or more than 30,000 square kilometers, has been contaminated with radioactive cesium from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Spanning 13 prefectures, the affected area has accumulated more than 10,000 becquerels of cesium 134 and 137 per square meter, according to the science ministry. The ministry has released the latest version of its cesium contamination map, covering 18 prefectures. Radioactive plumes from the Fukushima No. 1 plant reached no farther than the border between...

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 Cesium in pollen not viewed as health risk By KAZUAKI NAGATA Staff writer The Forestry Agency believes cedar pollen next spring contaminated by cesium fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant will be well below the legal safety limit. The exposure from inhaling cesium-contaminated cedar pollen circulating from Fukushima Prefecture will have a maximum radiation reading of 0.000132 microsievert per hour, the agency said, based on a recent calculation of fallout affecting cedar needles and leaves. In June, the education and science ministry studied cedar leaves in the town of Kawamata, located about 45 km...

Inspections failed to detect cesium-tainted 'Sayama' tea October 13, 2011 Government tests that detected levels of radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit in tea products made with famous "Sayama tea," a high-end brand of green tea leaves produced mainly in the southwestern region of Saitama Prefecture, have left a bitter taste in producers' mouths. The association of green tea producers in the prefecture announced on Sept. 14 that it will voluntarily stop shipments and sales of tea leaves produced this year. But the news about cesium contamination of Sayama tea is all the more shocking to these producers--not just because...

High cesium levels detected as far away as Gunma Prefecture BY HISAE SATO STAFF WRITER 2011/09/29 Radioactive cesium from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has spread more than 250 kilometers toward the southwest, reaching as far as Gunma Prefecture, the science ministry said. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has been measuring contamination levels in each prefecture in eastern Japan, including Gunma Prefecture from Aug. 23 to Sept. 8 using prefectural government helicopters. According to the measurements released Sept. 27, most of the radioactive cesium first spread about 60 km northwest from the Fukushima nuclear...

Japan: Cesium Accumulation Map (contaminated up to 250km) Light Gray: 30K ~ 60K becquerel per square meter Gray: 60K ~ 600K becquerel per square meter Dark Gray: over 600K becquerel per square meter Survey undertaken by Education Science Ministry via an airplane (bet Aug. 23 ~ Sept. 8) Slightly below the bottom center but out of this picture is Tokyo.

Radioactive cesium detected in boar meat in Miyagi Pref. SENDAI (Kyodo) -- Radioactive cesium at a level over four times the government-set safety limit has been detected in the meat of a wild boar captured in Kakuda city, Miyagi Prefecture, the prefectural government said Friday. It is the first time that radioactive contamination exceeding the safety limit was found in a wild animal or bird in the northeastern Japanese prefecture, local officials said, adding they will ask people in the prefecture not to eat meat of wild animals and birds for the time being. The meat of the boar, which...

Cesium Seeps into Ground Faster Than Previously Thought Tokyo, Aug. 12 (Jiji Press)--Radioactive cesium from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant seeped into the ground far faster than previously thought, a study has shown. In the joint study by the University of Tokyo and Fukushima Prefecture, home to the TEPCO plant, cesium that fell onto rice paddies at the Fukushima Agricultural Technology Center in the city of Koriyama seeped into the ground at speeds 0.1 to 0.2 times the penetration speed of water, compared with the previously estimated level of 0.001 times The university...

1,500 tons of radioactive sludge cannot be buried Nearly 50,000 tons of sludge at water treatment facilities has been found to contain radioactive cesium as the result of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Over 1,500 tons is so contaminated that it cannot be buried for disposal. Water treatment facilities in eastern and northeastern Japan have been discovering sludge containing cesium. The health ministry says there is 49,250 tons of such sludge in 14 prefectures in eastern and northeastern Japan. A total of 1,557 tons in 5 prefectures, including Fukushima and Miyagi, was found to contain 8,000...

Turmoil over radiation-contaminated beef spreads to luxury brands MORIOKA (Kyodo) -- Turmoil caused by the recent detection of cesium contamination of beef shipped from Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is spreading to hurt producers of high-quality beef in other parts of the country. With cattle shipments and bidding suspended or canceled due to people's fears over the contaminated beef, livestock farms and related firms worry they may be forced out of business. Since radioactive cesium above the government-designated limit was detected in beef cattle from Fukushima at a Tokyo slaughterhouse on July 8, it has...