I guess I should rethink my 14 years working with nuclear power then...
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Not sure where you came by this specificity information, but it's plain incorrect. Without quibbling over a narrow definition for 'Geiger', handheld meters that are commonly referred to as Geiger counters pick up beta and gamma as well, it just depends on the probe that's attached. I used them many years to pick up weak gamma contamination on surfaces in the lab, the folks next door had beta probes on their meters, since those were the emitters they used. You can buy the meters and somewhat interchangeable probes fairly readily.People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.
People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.
It seems premature to project how much we'll see here yet. Fukushima fallout radiation was detected along the North American west coast at the time of the release, it's just now the time that current-borne radiation will be arriving - slightly elevated levels have already been detected along British Columbia - and most concerning, in my mind, it appears the release of radiation continues to this day quite possibly at high levels, with some scary prospects for it getting much worse, according to some (not all of whom are obviously ignorant hysterics). How much the pipeline has been stuffed, and how much will come here, remains to be seen.I was a health physicist in the Navy (ELT) and I can assure you that any contamination reaching California is far below any sort of danger limit. As someone pointed out you'll get a lot more radiation on any flight between cities where you fly at high altitudes, or a getting an X-ray at the doctors or dentist. Eating a banana would probably give you more of a dose, they are high in potassium which is naturally slightly radioactive.
People walking around with Geiger counters? Geiger counters only detect alpha radiation. Alpha particles are helium nuclei which come from the radioactive decay of really heavy elements like radium, uranium 235 ( if memory still serves) and plutonium. You just are not going to set off a Geiger counter with the radioactive products from Japan. The radiation would be beta and gamma emitters which Geiger counters cannot detect.
No, Geiger counters detect gamma radiation, and can detect beta if they have a window installed on the probe. Alpha detectors are a different type of instrument. Alpha particles will not penetrate the metal wall of the Geiger tube nor the wall of the beta window.
I have plenty of hands on experience with Geiger, Alpha and Neutron detectors.
BK