Borssele NPP gets permit for MOX fuel

Borssele NPP gets permit for MOX fuel

Sadly, today I heard in the news that EPZ's* request to allow use of MOX fuel in the 30 year old Borssele NPP was granted by Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (MinEZ). Publication here.

*EPZ is the operator of the Borssele NPP.

We believe this decision is a very serious mistake! MOX fuel is 2.000.000 times more dangerous than enriched Uranium fuel. That's 2.000.000 times a higher health risk ! All of this for Economic gain (MOX fuel is cheaper than regular Uranium enriched fuel).

It is now time to object!

Quote from the "definitieve beschikking":

Beroep

Belanghebbenden kunnen tot en met 11 augustus 2011 beroep bij de Afdeling

bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State instellen.

Als belanghebbende kan worden aangemerkt diegene die rechtstreeks door

het besluit in zijn of haar belangen wordt geraakt en eerder een zienswijze heeft

ingebracht over het ontwerp van het besluit of redelijkerwijs niet kan worden

verweten eerder geen zienswijze daarover te hebben ingebracht.

De beschikking treedt na afl oop van de beroepstermijn in werking, tenzij voor deze

datum een verzoek wordt gedaan tot het treff en van een voorlopige voorziening.

Het beroepschrift moet worden gemotiveerd en voorzien zijn van een naam, datum

en het adres van de indiener.

Het beroepsschrift moet worden gericht aan de Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van

de Raad van State, Postbus 20019, 2500 EA ‘s-Gravenhage. Het verzoek tot het treff en

van een voorlopige voorziening moet worden gericht aan de voorzitt er van de

Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State. Voor de behandeling van een

beroep of een verzoek om een voorlopige voorziening is griffi erecht verschuldigd.

Inlichtingen over de procedure en de hoogte van het griffi erecht kunnen worden

verkregen bij de Raad van State, telefoon 070 - 426 44 26.

Greenpeace: Dangers of MOX fuel

MOX fuel rods used in Japanese Nuclear Reactor present multiple dangers

Dangers of proceeding with MOX

The danger of using MOX Fuel with dubious data

Disassembly and repair of FH40T geigercounter

After the malfunctioning of my FH40T geigercounter, it became clear that the probable cause was a gradual loss of High Voltage. Probably due to bad capacitors (loss of capacity or leak) in the voltage doubler / rectifier stage.
To reach the components concerned, the circuit boards need to be removed from the FH40T's housing.
To make removal possible, several wires need to be unsoldered.
To document the situation, to be able to connect all wires after repair of the circuit, I took this series of  pictures:

I've replaced all three 0.025µF / 400V capacitors, a 0.01µF / 250V capacitor and the three 100µF / 4V / 6V electrolytic caps (the meter averaging caps and supply filtering cap) too, as they probably have lost their capacity due to drying out.

After re-assembly of the unit, it seems to be working again, so the operation succeeded ! H.V. measured 500V at the FHZ55/500 stabilizer tube and it's glowing softly.

2011-05-26 21h CEST - Measurement briefly interrupted by a malfunction in the FH40T

Goes, 2011-05-26 22:19 CEST:
Tonight around 21h, the readings from the FH40T suddenly ceased. No more clicks were detected. After some initial testing, no immediate cause for this malfunction could be found, the FH40T detection electronics seemed dead but fortunately the G.M. tube was still OK.

After an interruption of about an hour, I was able to continue the measurements with a spare (D.I.Y) counter circuit that I had already built, using the same G.M. tube FHZ76V.

I''ll try to repair the FH40T in the near future, or otherwise I'll try to build new electronic circuit and integrate an LC-Display into the FH40T housing. Something which I already had planned to do, but hesitated to destroy a functional Radiation detector.

Radiation in Goes - Live graphs

Latest graphs. 

Update 2011-05-26 22:19 CEST: Tonight around 21h, the readings from the FH40T suddenly ceased. No more clicks were detected. After some initial testing, no immediate cause for this malfunction could be found, the FH40T detection electronics seemed dead but the G.M. tube was still OK.

After an interruption of about an hour, I was able to continue the measurements with a spare (D.I.Y) counter circuit that I had already built, using the same G.M. tube FHZ76V.

 

SI8B CPM measurement

Last month's radiation graph, normal background levels. 
Sun 04 sept at midnight: Raindrops leakage on GM tube and electronic circuit causing a spike and dropout of measurement. Fixed next morning.
Tue 28 june: Heavy rain and thunderstorms caused huge peak.
A lightly decreasing trend since the beginning of my measurements can be seen in the month graph. Did we experience Fallout from Fukushima before my measurements started, which is now slowly decreasing due to the half-life of the nucleides ?

Images kindly hosted by dead-men.de

Tests with SI-8B / СИ8Б Pancake GM tube

I did some experimental measurements with my new SI-8B / СИ8Б Pancake G.M. tube/probe, to verify it's functional and to prove it's able to detect any alpha radiation.

(Update 2011-06-07 22:30 CEDST): more measurement results and photos added.

Ua=400V Ra=4.7MΩ

1. Background radiation, indoor..
   90-126cpm, average 105cpm (with or without aluminium Beta-shield on probe).
   
   
2. Fertilizer (N-P-K), 100grams of granulars in a zip-bag laid on top of the probe:
   
   with Beta-shield: 134-149cpm, average 141cpm.
   without Beta-shield: 475-548cpm, average 505cpm.
   
   
3. Am-241 Source from Smoke detector:
   
   with Beta-shield: 7-12cps (420-720cpm).
   
   without Beta-shield, just a piece of paper between Am-241 source and probe (blocking alpha): 13-25cps (780-1500cpm).
   
   without any shielding: 150-450cps (9000-27000+ cpm).
   
   
4. Wolfram-Thorium (red color band, 2% Thorium, 2.4mm thickness) Tungsten welding electrode:
   A length (8cm) of WT20 electrode positioned across the SI-8B window:
   sample1:
   with Beta-shield: 253-280cpm, 268cpm average.
   without Beta-shield: 521-543cpm, 530cpm average.
   
   sample2:
   with Beta-shield: 239-285cpm, 261cpm average.
   without Beta-shield: 536-556cpm, 544cpm average.
   
   Both lengths of WT20 electrode positioned side-by-side across the SI-8B window:
   with Beta-shield: 356-427cpm, 389cpm average.
   without Beta-shield: 941-983cpm, 963cpm average.
   
   
5. ¹⁴C 60µC test source (Beta radiation, 0.156476MeV), in TTL6109a
   "Strahlenspurgerat". Measured with the SI-8B held close to the mica window of the ionisation chamber, with the mode switch in the "R" position (so the ¹⁴C test source is exposed into TTL6109A's ionisation chamber).
   
   with Beta-shield: 102-143cpm, 116cpm average
   without Beta-shield: 3924-4360cpm, 4142cpm average
   

cpm = counts per minute
cps = counts per second

Photo's of experimental counter setup with SI8B, my HV inverter circuit and my Pulse-Counter / RS232- interface / LCD:

Test setup with SI8B, HV inverter and PIC pulse counter / LCD, powered by 4 NiMh coin cells

Close-up of the SI-8B mounted on a Pringles can.

Russian Pancake tube SI-8B / СИ8Б

From Ebay, I acquired a N.O.S (new old stock) Russian Pancake GM tube SI-8B / СИ8Б.
It has a diameter of 8cm and is very sensitive:
A quick test showed a background radiation count between 3 and 10 CPS (counts per second), compared to between 3 and 10CPM with my FHZ76V tube !! This is a 60-fold higher count rate !!
I'll do some more tests and measurements soon.

 

The specifications sheet are in Russian language. 

If somebody can translate these specification sheets from Russian to English or German, I would very much appreciate that! Please leave a comment!

Update: Katze typed the Russian text of the datasheet in a wordprocessing document, which can now be easily translated, so many thanks to Katze for this great job :-) .

Here is the translation:

ECV 6343 II652 I COUNTER SI8B
 
LABEL
 
Counter Beta radiation SI8B (hereinafter counter) is used to register the soft beta-radiation in radiometric devices.
Climatic performance U3.I.
 
Solo 15170 Date of manufacture OKT 1990
 
Circuits connecting the electrodes with the findings
 
Designation Name of the output electrode
            I Free
            3 Cathode
            5 Free
            7 Anode
 
Basic electrical and radiometric parameters
 
The slope of the plateau of the counting characteristics,%, not exceeding: 0,3
Sensitivity of the counting rate, imp.s-1.A-1.kg: 1.3 * 10E12 ... 1.9 * 10E12
Sensitivity of the counting rate (imp / uR): (350 ... 500)
The slope of the voltage-current characteristics,%, not more: 1,25
Amplitude voltage pulse, V, no less than: 20
Own background, imp / s, max: 2
Effectiveness of registration of beta radiation,%: 50 ... 85
Current sensitivity, uA: 8 ... 15 (at P = 12.9 * 10E-10 A / kg (5 uR / s))
Operating range voltage, V: 360 ... 440
Maximum operating speed counting, pulses / s: 3400
Maximum operating current, mA: 18.2
The maximum permissible exposure dose of gamma radiation, A / kg: 21.5 * 10E-6 (for 1 min)
The maximum permissible exposure dose of gamma radiation (R / h): (300) (for 1 min)

Precious metals are not contained.

The content of non-ferrous metals in a counter:
Nickel - 3.6 grams per 4-pin.
 
 
Acceptance Information
 
Counter SI8B meets specifications 0D0.339.388 TU.
 
TCI Stamp
 
At re-manufactured _________ date
 
 
 
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
I. After you remove the meter from the package carefully remove the protective cover and visually check to make sure that the counter has no express mechanical defects (cracks of mica, chipped enamel).

The counter can be taken only at the base. Is strictly forbidden to touch mica window.
 
2. The inclusion of the counter is made by feeding the anode voltage 390.
 
3. During operation of the counter values that determine the mode of operation, should not exceed the maximum allowable value.
Doing so may lead to loss of counters performance.

Manufacturer of SI8B

Linux scripts for datalogging and graphing of the radiation measurements

Here are the scripts that I'm using on my Linux box to capture the measurement data that is sent by my Geiger-Counter processor Computer (RS232) interface.
It sends one line with the radiation value (in mR/h) measured during each sampling period (111.11s).

---

create.sh:

#!/bin/sh
# create.sh - create rrd for storing radiation measurement values (run once)
RRD=rad.rrd

rrdtool create $RRD \
--start 1301511639  --step 111 \
DS:mR-h:GAUGE:333:0:10000.0 \
RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:6000  \
RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:6:3000  \
RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:16:3000 

---

sc.sh:

#!/bin/sh
# sc - simple serialport capture script
SERIAL=/dev/ttyS0

# run loop forever:
while true ; do
    read a < $SERIAL
    N="`date  +%s`"
    echo "rrdtool update rad.rrd $N:$a" >> data.log
    rrdtool update rad.rrd $N:$a
    echo $a >> geiger.log
    sh graph.sh
done

---

graph.sh

#!/bin/sh
# graph.sh - generate graphs from rrd

# mR (milliRoentgen) to Roentgen: CDEF:value=mR,1000,/ \
# mR (milliRoentgen) to Sievert: CDEF:value=mR,100000,/ \

rrdtool graph radday.png -s -24h -e now \
 -l 0 -r \
 --alt-y-grid \
 --units-length 5 \
 --units-exponent -6 \
 --width 800 --height 500 \
 -t "Beta+Gamma Radiation last 24h - `date`" \
 --vertical-label "Sievert/h -------->" \
 --right-axis 100:0 \
 --right-axis-label "R/h ------->" \
 --color FONT#000000 -R light --font "DEFAULT:0:DejaVuSansMono" \
 DEF:mR=rad.rrd:mR-h:AVERAGE \
 CDEF:value=mR,100000,/ \
 CDEF:smoothed=value,3333,TRENDNAN \
 VDEF:rad5max=value,MAXIMUM \
 VDEF:rad5min=value,MINIMUM \
 VDEF:rad5avg=value,AVERAGE \
 VDEF:slope=value,LSLSLOPE \
 VDEF:int=value,LSLINT \
 CDEF:trend=value,POP,slope,COUNT,*,int,+ \
 AREA:smoothed#0000ff40: \
 LINE1.5:smoothed#0000ff:" Radiation (avg)   " \
 LINE1:value#ff000080:" Radiation (raw)   " \
 LINE1:trend#000000:"--- trend\c":dashes \
 VDEF:rad5las=value,LAST \
                COMMENT:"      " \
                COMMENT:"Maximum       " \
                COMMENT:"Minimum       " \
                COMMENT:"Average       " \
                COMMENT:"Last          \n" \
                COMMENT:"     " \
                GPRINT:rad5max:"%6.2lf %SSv/h" \
                GPRINT:rad5min:"%6.2lf %SSv/h" \
                GPRINT:rad5avg:"%6.2lf %SSv/h" \
                GPRINT:rad5las:"%6.2lf %SSv/h \l" \

---

Very efficient HV inverter circuit for Geiger-Mueller Tubes

(updated 2011-06-07, see below)
Trying to build a D.I.Y Geiger Counter, I have been experimenting with various circuits to generate the High Voltage that Geiger-Mueller Tubes require (most operate around 500V D.C) . There are many circuit diagrams out on the net. I've built several. One challenge is finding a proper coil (or transformer) that has the right properties to let the inverter function in the way the voltage boost is sufficient. Another challenge is stabilizing the high voltage and lastly have a low current consumption (for battery use). During my experiments, some circuits required more than 150mA @ 5V D.C this is definitely too much for battery use. Others were a lot more conservative, but could not generate sufficiently high voltage (just 450V D.C, just the low threshold of the G.M. tube I have, but I prefer operating the tube at the center of the plateau).
I didn't have good results with the diode-cascade type of voltage-doubling.

In the end, I had good result with a circuit, built with a CCFL (backlight) H.V. Transformer scrapped from a power-supply board of a (defective) Dell or BenQ TFT Monitor.

On this perticular PSU board, there are 4 of these Transformers (located on the left edge of the board):

4 CCFL transformers.

On this board, there are also some very good Transistors 2SC5707, designed for switchmode circuits.
 I used one of these as oscillator for my HV inverter circuit. 


Here is the final circuit diagram of the H.V. Geiger-Meuller tubes (note: there is a small update, see below). The primary winding of the transformer is brought in resonance at its optimum efficiency point, around 55kHz
In my experimental setup, the circuit draws just a few milliamps out of a 5V supply, delivering 550V to a G.M. Tube FLZ76V. The complete D.I.Y Geiger Counter circuit, with PIC16F628A microcontroller and a 16x2 LCD screen draws 5mA from 5V D.C.

Your mileage may vary, depending on differences and tolerances of the components used.

HV inverter schematic v1.0

Update 2011-06-07:
I've finally built a complete HV inverter unit on a piece of experiment board (PCB with holes on a 2.54mm grid).
I'll use it with the SI-8B pancake tube, so the HV output is adjusted to 400V (using 4 times 100V zeners in the regulation feedback line).
The unit (unloaded) draws just 250µA off a 5V supply. Loaded with a 4M7 resistor, the output is still 390V.
So far, this is the most efficient HV inverter i've built.

Here are some pictures of the completed HV inverter unit:

The HV output side. A 4M7 anode series resistor for the GM tube already mounted as well as a 2k2 kathode resistor (for pulse detection).

Here is the updated circuit diagram of the further optimized HV inverter v1.1 with some minor changes in the feedback / regulation section resulting in better regulation and even less current consumption (<1mA @5V typical):

HV inverter schematic v1.1

Schematic diagram of my Geiger counter - computer interface

I got request to publish the interface circuit that I'm using to connect my FH40T Geiger Counter to the PC.
The circuit only existed in my head and on breadboard, so I had to find a software that let me draw the schematic diagram quickly. After some Googling, i decided to try the free software ExpressSCH.

Here is the drawing (click on the image to view full size or save as...):

I will soon publish the source code for the PIC16F68A, but it should be tidied a bit.first.
It uses a modified version of the code published by Emmett Kyle found here.

My mod to the software enables outputting measured counter values to the RS232 port for datalogging, and also adjusting timing values to cater for varies Geiger Tube sensitivities.

Pictures of my Geiger counter - computer interface

Here is my (experimental) Geiger Counter setup:
The FH40T Geiger Counter, with its speaker-output connected to a breadboard with PIC16F628A microcontroller and LCD and RS232 output.
The microcontroller counts the pulses from the geigercounter during a fixed interval (111.11seconds) and converts them to a value in mRem/h. The value is displayed on the LCD and sent on the RS232 port connected to a PC, which also supplies 5V DC to all circuits



On the left is a more detailed photo of the experimental breadboard setup of the Pulse counter with PIC16F628A processor / LCD / RS232.

RadGoes now submitting live radiation data on Pachube

Just a few minutes ago, I succeeded in adding my geiger counter measurements on the Pachube website!

All radiation measurement samples are now automatically uploaded, in realtime, every 111 seconds, here:
http://www.pachube.com/feeds/24100
Here is the data link http://api.pachube.com/v2/feeds/24100.xml
Data is available in CSV: http://www.pachube.com/v2/feeds/24100/datastreams/0/archive.csv

Unit conversion: 10 µRem/h = 0.1 µSv/h

Find all Geiger Counter radiation datasources on Pachube

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-21

Last 7 days's radiation graph. Note the "bump" on saturday was caused by noise due to a faulty connector

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-20

Today's radiation graph

Last 7 days's radiation graph. Note the "bump" was caused by noise due to a faulty connector.

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-19

Todays radiation graph

Last 7 day's radiation graph. The high peak was caused by an hardware error (faulty connector causing noise, extra counts)

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-18

Today's radiation graph. All normal.

Last 7 day's radiation graph. The high peak was caused by an hardware error (faulty connector)

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-17

Today's radiation graph, normal levels

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-16

Today's radiation graph.

Last week's radiation graph

Notice the sudden increase on friday evening around 23h. I discovered there was a loose connection (bad connector) between geiger counter and pulse-processor, causing ghost pulses.

The connection was repaired somewhere between 14:15-14:30h.  No worries about increased radiation this time !

Radiation in Goes 2011-04-15

Today's radiation (will update several times during the day)

Radiation in Goes - 2011-04-14

Today's radiation level

Last week's radiation level

Radiation level slightly increasing to 140nSv/h on april 14th, after being as low as 100nSv/h during the week before.

Were the higher levels caused by radioactive particles in plume from Japan driven by wind to here ?