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The Food and Drug Administration is expanding its shrimp recall to include two more products that may have been contaminated with cesium-137 (Cs-137). Both products recently added to the recall came from Seattle-based Aquastar Corp. Around 26,460 packages of cocktail shrimp and approximately 18,000 bags of Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp are being pulled from shelves due to possible radioactive contamination. The affected cocktail shrimp was sold in Walmart stores across 27 states between July 31 and Aug. 16. Meanwhile, affected packages of the Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp were sold in stores across 17 states....

According to a press release from the FDA, Cesium-137 (Cs-137) was detected by U.S. Customs & Border Protection in shipping containers that arrived at ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and Savannah. Samples found the presence of Cs-137, a radioactive isotope in a shipment of breaded shrimp. The FDA confirmed that Walmart received raw frozen shrimp that could be affected by the issue. Cs-137 is a product of nuclear fission and is used in medical devices and gauges, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains. It can also be used to gauge “the flow of liquid through pipes,” the...

A vast, ancient crater in the western United States may be home to one of the most significant mineral discoveries of the century. Published in the journal Science Advances, researchers have identified a geological formation beneath this site that could dramatically reshape the global landscape for clean energy technology. A Supervolcano’s Legacy Becomes a Resource Powerhouse The McDermitt Caldera, measuring 45 by 35 kilometers, was formed 16.4 million years ago following a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Over time, a lake developed inside the caldera, collecting thick layers of volcanic ash and mineral-rich sediments. These conditions gave rise to lithium-bearing clay minerals,...

Agency says radioactive materials recovered in home of man allegedly slain by his wife ...BELFAST, Maine — James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a “dirty bomb.” According to an FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center posted online by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts leaked documents, an investigation into the case revealed that radioactive materials were removed from Cummings’ home after his shooting death on Dec. 9 It says that four 1-gallon...

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.