Make Radiation Visible Campaign – May 18, 2014

Scottsboro, Alabama - Radiation monitoring, utilizing SEI Inspector Geiger Counter and the URSA 2 multi-channel Analyzer.

Rain Event - weather front moved from west to east, 10 knot wind max. Thunderstorms early Sunday morning. Rain began Saturday, temperatures down to 54F. Monitoring began at end of rain event and continued for 2.5 hours. Radon progenies present along with other radionuclides. Possible nuclear medicine incineration waste identified, Tl 201-thallium 201 which is widely used in nuclear medicine for cardiac perfusion studies. Cesium 137 and breakdown isotope from Zircalloy cladding from nuclear fuels-Sb125 Unidentified energies may be other isotopes of Cesium and significant Sn 129 which is further indicative of the Zircalloy cladding breakdown as evidenced by the Antimony, Sb 125.

Many thanks to members and donors of BEST/MATRR's Make Radiation Visible Community Radiation Monitoring Project.

A non-profit Windows Media Video production by Garry Morgan; creative commons free usage license for background music by the Diablo Swing Orchestra, song-Heroines.

Video sponsored by BEST/MATRR in support of environmental stewardship and open government. For more information go to http://www.matrr.org

Radiation Monitoring – Rain Event – May 9, 2014

Scottsboro, Alabama  - Make Radiation Visible Campaign, Community Radiation Monitoring Project. Light rain event, analysis of radionuclides on hard surface during rain event with SEI URS radionuclide analyzer.

A non-profit Windows Media Video production by Garry Morgan; creative commons free usage license for background music by the Diablo Swing Orchestra, song-Heroines.

Video sponsored by BREDL/BEST/MATRR in support of environmental stewardship and open government. For more information go to http://www.matrr.org

Browns Ferry Nuclear bGeigy Radiation Monitoring – April 30, 2014

Northwest Alabama
Community Radiation Monitoring surrounding Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility in North Alabama. Deployment of the bGeigy Safecast Radiation monitoring system. Many thanks to the NRDC and Safecast.

A non-profit Windows Media Video production by Garry Morgan; creative commons free usage license for background music by the Diablo Swing Orchestra, song-Heroines.

Video sponsored by BREDL/BEST/MATRR in support of environmental stewardship and open government. For more information go to http://www.matrr.org

NRDC Geiger Counter Workshop – April 21-22, 2014

Washington, DC
Safecast workshop on building and deployment of the iGeigy Geiger Counter. Sponsored by the NRDC, Safecast, International Medcom, colleagues and friends. BEST/MATRR Radiation Monitoring Project Director, Garry Morgan, was invited to present his methodology and monitoring protocol to the workshop participants and also participated and built his own Safecast bGeigy monitor.

Rendevous for Action – Monitoring Workshop – February 22, 2014

Chattanooga, TN

A Radiation Monitoring Workshop held by Garry Morgan, Director of the Community Radiation Monitoring Project of BEST/MATRR, and sponsored by a grant from TERC's Statistics in Action Program. Garry taught participants all about the planning, execution, recording, and reporting methods for radiation monitoring projects, and Lou Zeller of the Blue Ridge Environmental taught TERC's statistical analysis methods.

Sandhill Cranes – Decatur, TN – Short Video

Sandhill Cranes,Tennessee River near Decatur, Tn.. A flight of over 1000 Sandhill Cranes; high definition short version. A major bonus of monitoring along the river is the birding surprises we come across along the way.

 

A non-profit Windows Media Video production by Garry Morgan; creative commons free usage license for background music by the Diablo Swing Orchestra, song-Heroines.

Video sponsored by BEST/MATRR in support of environmental stewardship and open government. For more information go to http://www.matrr.org

Community Radiation Monitoring – East Tennessee – February 5, 2014

A Continuation of the BREDL/BEST/MATRR Community Radiation Monitoring Program. This trip involves East Tennessee monitoring North West (NW) of TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Facility on Feb. 5, 2014 and North of Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant. 

A non-profit Windows Media Video production by Garry Morgan; creative commons free usage license for background music by the Diablo Swing Orchestra, song-Heroines.

Video sponsored by BEST/MATRR in support of environmental stewardship and open government. For more information go to http://www.matrr.org

Community Radiation Monitoring – BEST/MATRR Dec. 3, 2013

Scottsboro, Alabama - A Continuation of the BEST/MATRR Community Radiation Monitoring Program. This video was recorded on December 3, 2013 off of Gant Rd. during a rain event. High count was 354. At 50 minutes, a 1/3rd disintegration of the radionuclides present was witnessed; half life was reached at 60 minutes.

Surface wipe sample returned to background level at 2 hours, indicating radionuclides other than radon progenies. Gama radiation was present penetrating 4 layers of folded aluminum foil at 50%. This monitoring indicates radon progeny radionuclides and another unidentified radiation source other than radon.

A non-profit Windows Media Video (WMV) Production by BREDL/BEST/MATRR member Garry Morgan. WMV systems license for background music.

Supporting environmental stewardship. For more information about BEST/MATRR go to http://www.matrr.org

Car Surface Wipe Radiation 1898 CPM and TV Interview on June 7, 2013, and Our Presentation to Scottsboro City Council on June 10, 2013

Part of our monitoring program includes educating the public and policy makers. After establishing 50 monitoring sites in north Alabama with CPM readings from background to 40 times background, our group commissioned epidemiologist Joseph Mangano, MPH, Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, to provide information on health issues in the area both before and after Browns Ferry Nuclear reactors came online. On June 6, we released our preliminary report on the radiation findings of our first monitoring project and health issues in the area. The report is titled, Radioactive Emissions and Health Hazards Surrounding Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama. 

The next day we attended the closeout of a week long Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Emergency Preparedness Exercise in Decatur, Alabama, just south of Browns Ferry and about 60 miles west of our base in Scottsboro. Garry Morgan, Director of our Community Radiation Monitoring Project, had taken a reading of our travel vehicle before we left and the reading was only background level. On the return drive, a rain storm descended and once back in Scottsboro, Garry took another reading and found high levels. He performed a wipe taking a sample from the car, which resulted in our highest recorded radiation level yet, peaking at 1898 CPM.

Later the same day, Garry was interviewed by a Huntsville reporter for WAAY TV (an ABC affilliate), and our side recording of part of the interview was added to the video.

On the following Monday, June 10, Garry presented our report to the Scottsboro City Council and portions of that presentation are also included on the tape. 

Radiation Monitoring in Scottsboro, AL on Mar 23, 2013

A Continuation of the BREDL/BEST/MATRR Community Radiation Monitoring Program. Over the past few days we have been witnessing light to moderate rainfall with radionuclides present at levels over 450 Counts Per Minute (CPM); (over .130 micro Roentgens per hr.). The weather system moved from west-northwest to east southeast. Heavy Contrail/Chemtrail formations with reflective phenomena were observed in clear skys prior to the cold fronts passage.

In this test period there was a 20% deterioration of the radionuclide within 20 minutes. Decay half life of the wipe sample occured at 43 minutes.

Radon daughters (progenies): the concentration of radon gas and its decay products depends greatly on temperature and weather patterns. When the air is cooler, or when there is an inversion layer "holding down" air near the ground, there can be a higher concentration of radon gas and its decay products -- especially Lead-214 and Bismuth-214, which are strong gamma and beta emitters and are quite radioactive. Other weather conditions can cause large variations as well, especially rain. Rain washes the radon progeny out of the air. So when it rains, there should generally be a short spike in the gamma and beta counts followed by a period of lower counts. http://www.radonserv.com/message.asp?...

The question: is this radioactivity significant to human cellular structure when repeated in weather events over a period of days and when a person becomes soaked repetitively in a series of radioactive rain events?

Local radioactive rain events have demonstrated gamma, beta and alpha radiation as demonstrated in filter tests. http://youtu.be/lrjqXYCVQas

There may be other radionuclides present such as Iodine 131 or Iodine 135 and their progenies. Without spectrographic analysis it is not possible to identify the specific offending radionuclide.

A non-profit Windows Media Video (WMV) Production by BREDL/BEST/MATRR member Garry Morgan. WMV systems license for background music.

Supporting environmental stewardship and open government. For more information about BREDL/BEST/MATRR go to http://www.matrr.org

Radiation Monitoring and Demonstration Across the River from BFN on Jan 24, 2013

Radiation Monitoring on January 24, 2013, 4 miles south of the Browns Ferry Alabama Nuclear Facility on the Tennessee River; monitoring in Lawrence County near Hillsboro, Al.. The background reading for this trip was 36 CPM (counts per minute). Cold and sunny weather, moderate wind from the North; temperature was 38-40 degrees F.

A non-profit video by BREDL/BEST/MATRR demonstrating our monitoring of the communities surrounding the TVA Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility. Gretel Johnston, Stewart Horn and Garry Morgan participated in this monitoring trip. Our monitoring trip was uploaded in real time on www.radiationnetwork.com.

Windows Media Video (WMV) by Gretel Johnston and Garry Morgan for BEST/MATRR; WMV systems license for background music.

Another Radioactive Rainout Event with Beta & Gamma Tests on Jan 14, 2013

A continuation of the BREDL/BEST/MATRR Community Radiation Monitoring Program. Over the past 3 days we have been witnessing moderate to heavy rainfall with radionuclides present at levels over 730 Counts Per Minute (CPM) in Scottsboro, AL, 70 miles east of Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. The current weather system is moving from west-northwest to east-southeast.

Radon daughters (progenies): the concentration of radon gas and its decay products depends greatly on temperature and weather patterns. When the air is cooler, or when there is an inversion layer "holding down" air near the ground, there can be a higher concentration of radon gas and its decay products -- especially Lead-214 and Bismuth-214, which are strong gamma and beta emitters and are quite radioactive. Other weather conditions can cause large variations as well, especially rain. Rain washes the radon progeny out of the air. So when it rains, there should generally be a short spike in the gamma and beta counts followed by a period of lower counts. http://www.radonserv.com/message.asp?...

There may be other radionuclides present such as Iodine 131 or Iodine 135 and their progenies. Without spectrographic analysis it is not possible to identify the specific offending radionuclide.

A non-profit Windows Media Video (WMV) Production by BREDL/BEST/MATRR member Garry Morgan. WMV systems license for background music.

Supporting environmental stewardship and open government. For more information about BREDL/BEST/MATRR go to http://www.matrr.org

'Hot Rain' Again on Dec 10, 2012

"Rain-Out" event, Scottsboro, Al. Dec. 10, 2012. (Please see update below as to radionuclide identification.) A light to moderate morning rain brought with it radiation. Test as demonstrated reveals Gamma & Beta Radiation with a very short half life. Wind was out of the west, northwest; temperature 55℉. The "rainout" event video referenced within this video which demonstrated a radiation Counts Per Minute of 1500+ on Nov.12, 2012 (Veterans Day) may be found at: http://youtu.be/7x5HtI02AKE

Radon daughters: the concentration of radon gas and its decay products depends greatly on temperature and weather patterns. When the air is cooler, or when there is an inversion layer "holding down" air near the ground, there can be a higher concentration of radon gas and its decay products -- especially Lead-214 and Bismuth-214, which are strong gamma and beta emitters and are quite radioactive. Other weather conditions can cause large variations as well, especially rain. Rain washes the radon progeny out of the air. So when it rains, there should generally be a short spike in the gamma and beta counts followed by a period of lower counts. http://www.radonserv.com/message.asp?...

There may be other radionuclides present such as Iodine 131 or Iodine 135 and their progenies. Without spectrographic analysis it is not possible to identify the specific offending radionuclide.

A non-profit Windows Media Video (WMV) Production by BREDL/BEST/MATRR member Garry Morgan. WMV systems license for background music.

Supporting environmental stewardship and open government. For more information about BREDL/BEST/MATRR go to http://www.matrr.org

Field Tests Near Browns Ferry on Nov 28, 2012 + White Pelicans!

Radiation Monitoring on November 28, 2012, south and southwest of the Browns Ferry Alabama Nuclear Facility on the Tennessee River; monitoring included Lawrence, Limestone and Morgan Counties Alabama. The background reading for this trip was 36 CPM (counts per minute). Mild, sunny weather, 6-8 knot wind from the North-Northeast, temperature was 65 degrees F.

A non-profit video by BREDL/BEST/MATRR demonstrating our monitoring of the communities surrounding the TVA Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility.

Windows Media Video (WMV) by Gretel Johnston, Charlie Seifried and Garry Morgan for BEST/MATRR; WMV systems license for background music.

American White Pelicans video: http://youtu.be/OKbm2oTwRcQ One of the small pleasures of our program, observation of wildlife.

Supporting environmental stewardship and open government. For more information about BREDL/BEST/MATRR go to http://www.matrr.org

'HOT RAIN' Event 70 MILES DOWNWIND of Browns Ferry - Nov 12, 2012

Rain in Scottsboro on this Veterans Day has brought a "hot rain" to the "boro." Radiation builds up in the atmosphere, rain washes the radiation out, events such as this are called "rain-out" events. Since the radiation dissipated rapidly after the rain, was the radiation Radon or other? Radon's half life is slightly over 3 days, this radionuclide's half life was shorter than one hour.

Radon daughters: the concentration of radon gas and its decay products depends greatly on temperature and weather patterns. When the air is cooler, or when there is an inversion layer "holding down" air near the ground, there can be a higher concentration of radon gas and its decay products -- especially Lead-214 and Bismuth-214, which are strong gamma and beta emitters and are quite radioactive. Other weather conditions can cause large variations as well, especially rain. Rain washes the radon progeny out of the air. So when it rains, there should generally be a short spike in the gamma and beta counts followed by a period of lower counts.
http://www.radonserv.com/message.asp?...

There may be other radionuclides present such as Iodine 131 or Iodine 135 and their progenies. Without spectrographic analysis it is not possible to identify the specific offending radionuclide.

Monitoring during the rain event demonstrated elevated airborne count readings at 1 meter in excess of 100 counts per minute (CPM) as reflected on the Radiation Network dot com.Ground readings were higher than 150CPM.

Windows Media Video (WMV) Production by Garry Morgan. WMV system license for background music usage.

This is a non-profit radiation monitoring project by the members of BREDL/BEST/MATRR. For more information: http://www.matrr.org

Field Monitoring Browns Ferry - Nov 9, 2012

Radiation Monitoring on November 9, 2012, west of the Browns Ferry Alabama Nuclear Facility on the Tennessee River; monitoring included Lawrence and Morgan Counties. The background reading for this trip was 26 CPM (counts per minute). Mild, sunny weather, light wind from the Northeast but variable at some locations; temperature was 65 degrees F.

A non-profit video by BREDL/BEST/MATRR demonstrating our monitoring of the communities surrounding the TVA Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility.

Windows Media Video (WMV) by Stewart Horn and Garry Morgan for BEST/MATRR; WMV systems license for background music.

Field Monitoring Areas Surrounding Browns Ferry - Oct 26, 2012

Radiation Monitoring of the Tennessee River and Communities surrounding the Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility ( BFNF) near Tanner, Al.  Northwest and northeast.

Educational/Informational, non-profit Windows Media Video (WMV) production and video by Garry Morgan for BEST/MATRR. WMV system license for background music usage. 

Gathering and Testing Soy Bean Samples – Oct 19-25, 2012

Oct 19, 2012 - BEST/MATRR member Stewart Horn acquired soy bean samples surrounding the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. One sample group north of the Browns Ferry Nuclear plant adjacent to the cooling towers on Shaw Road demonstrated an elevated count approximately twice that of background radiation.

UPDATE: Oct 25, 2012 - One sample out of the 6 soy beans taken demonstrated an elevated level in the whole plant structure. The plant and beans were dry. The elevated reading was near twice the background level, in my opinion not a sufficient elevated reading to cause concern but does warrant further investigation.

It was significant the elevated reading was from the field closest to the cooling towers. It was at this location where the second highest reading (4 times background) was acquired during a rain storm "rain-out event."

Dry beans were ground and tested from the whole plant group which demonstrated a higher reading - the dried, ground beans did not have an elevated level greater than background level. Beans not ground, but dry, did not exhibit an elevated level.

Apparently it is the "whole plant and root structure" which appears to retain some radiation. I will be performing further testing today on the soy beans 5 days post gathering of the samples.

Ground locations tested surrounding Browns Ferry during sunny and dry conditions exhibited radiation levels slightly elevated but no more than twice background level.

It is not possible to draw conclusions from our tests at this point as we need more data in varied weather conditions at different locations.

GARRY MORGAN
Project Director, Community Radiation Monitoring Program
BREDL/BEST/MATRR

Educational/Informational, non-profit Windows Media Video (WMV) production by Garry Morgan for BEST/MATRR. WMV system license for background music usage. 

Field Test Monitoring on Tennessee River – Oct. 17, 2012

Radiation Monitoring of the Tennessee River surrounding the Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility( BFNF). A return to a sunny Tanner, Al. where the radiation was near 6 times background level on Oct. 12, 2012, a rainy day.Tanner is located 9 1/2 miles east of BFNF.

A not for profit, educational Windows Media Video Production, Fair Use of Windows Media system music per system's usage license. Video for BEST/MATRR by Garry Morgan.

Field Test Monitoring Near Browns Ferry – Oct. 13, 2012

Radiation Monitoring at Browns Ferry Alabama on October 13, 2012 by BREDL/BEST/MATRR members Gretel Johnston and Garry Morgan. The wind direction was out of the west-southwest; intermittent rain. Soybean crop in fields has not been harvested. Area background radiation average-38/

This is a not for profit educational, environmental justice project utilizing Windows Media Video Production products; fair usage rights to system provided Windows Media background music. Project's purpose - document radiation levels surrounding nuclear power plants in the TVA area. Project sponsored by BEST/MATRR. 

'Radiation Detectives' Training Session – Oct. 6, 2012

The BEST/MATRR chapter of BREDL began its Radiation Monitoring Program with a training session. Lou Zeller of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) presented the 4 hour session which instructed volunteer participants in radiation monitoring basic procedures surrounding TVA Nuclear Power Facilities. BEST MATRR will be joining over 500 participants worldwide in civilian radiation monitoring. BEST MATRR volunteers will be monitoring radiation levels in communities surrounding TVA Nuclear Power Facilities under the direction of a Project Director. The project's duration is indefinite, but we plan to gather data for at least two years.