Category Archives: Thesis

Wearable Radiation Detector

SYNOPSIS

My project has shifted from creating an audio-visual experience using real-time visualization of subatomic particles to that of constructing an open-sourced, wearable radiation detector.

Since the 2010 meltdown of Japanese nuclear reactors, a tide of radiation has been inexorably drifting toward the western shore of the North American continent.  The government of Japan has responded to world-wide concern by criminalizing media coverage of clean-up efforts at the crippled nuclear reactors of Fukushima.

In keeping with its own actions criminalizing the 2010 media coverage of BP’s Gulf oil spill ($40,000 fines), the Obama administration has voiced support of Japan’s new laws – and by extending the scope of existing anti-terrorism and secrecy acts.

There are currently 435 operable civil nuclear power reactors around the world, with a further 71 under construction.  Out of those existing there are 104 nuclear reactors operating in 31 states around the United States.  The number of operational/non-operational military nuclear reactors, for the United States or other nations, is not known.

The total number of disposal/dump sites (ocean and/or on land) for radioactive waste is not known.  Banned by international treaties in 1993, ocean dumping of radioactive waste (liquid and solid) continues off the coasts of Somalia due to the “lack of a functioning government.”

Accidents happen; events occur.  There is a current and growing need to be able to detect the presence of abnormal levels of radiation in our food and water as well as the volumes through which we travel, work and live.

DESCRIPTION

Existing radiation detectors are often expensive and vary both in accuracy and credibility.

It is my intention to design and fabricate an accessible, affordable, and reliable device based upon sound physics and available materials. The published design will allow the construction of a device which will have repeatable results using readily available parts. The plans, drawings, block diagram, and printed wiring board artwork will be available through the web.

Multiple detectors would result in increased sensitivity.

RESEARCH

I continue to be mentored by Professor Eric Rosenthal and have consulted with physicists Marco Kaloften (advisor to Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds.org) and Manuel Rotenberg (Professor Emeritus, UCSD).

The detection of radiation began in 1903 through an accident.  While the initial discovery occurred using a microscope, a compact transportable device was soon made called a spinthariscope.  Sir William Crookes named his device after the Greek word for scintillation (σπινθηρισμού).

The spinthariscope consisted of a point source of radioactive material in proximity to a scintillation screen, enclosed in a tube, and was capped with a magnifying lens.  ( As a side note, I had one of these as a child.  Looking through that lens lifted the lid on an unseen world and provided me with some of my first moments of awe and wonder.)

Until 1908 radioactivity was quantified by counting the number of flashes which would appear on the scintillation screen.  Hans Geiger (then working for Ernest Rutherford) developed what was known as the Geiger tube and was sensitive only to Alpha particles.  In 1928 Geiger and Walther Müller improved on the original design and were able to detect all types of ionizing radiation (“Geiger-Muller tube”).

Radiation detection equipment using the Geiger-Müller tube abounds on eBay.  Sensitive contemporary detection apparatus for various types of radiation exists the world over.  It is also priced accordingly.

Basic physics has not changed.  What has changed since since the design of the Geiger-Müller tube is our access to different types of readily available and reliable technology; particularly those in electronics and materials.

In the 1970s I invented a wearable LED pin and eventually created a line of jewelry which was featured in Mademoiselle, Interview, ID Design, and sold world-wide.  My prior experience in creating wearable electronic accessories includes the original MykroDot and a more complicated, larger object remembered as an Audiotron.  Designing a wearable radiation detector is within the scope of my abilities; especially with the guidance of my thesis advisor, Professor Eric Rosenthal.

We look forward to encouraging a spirit of discovery, curiosity, and adventure in the minds of some, and the production of a device which will remain useful for years to come.

Bibliography

Thesis Bibliography

Gamma photodiode detector:  Gamma/X-Ray detector with PIN  X-ray Detector
Nuclear glossary Types of ionizing radiation  X-Ray Detector 2
Alpha particles X-Rays  Common Radionuclides
Geiger Counter History Marco Kaloften, PE  Radiation Network
Crookes Luminous Sea  Crookes Tubes  Rutherford and Alpha Particles
Marines as Test Subjects Children of the Atomic Bomb What does radiation do to living things?

 

Caveats

I would like to address the caveats which were passed on to me regarding my thesis proposal. The first thing I would like to do is to define a caveat. Merriam Webster returned:ca·ve·at noun \ˈka-vē-ˌät, -ˌat; ˈkä-vē-ˌät; ˈkā-vē-ˌat\ : an explanation or warning that should be remembered when you are doing or thinking about something
For us to use this in daily life there has to be enough radiation to sense, and a super super sensitive sensor, and it has to be something we could wear, not a haz mat suit obviously. Or is this for specialists, not ordinary folk? Seems really hard — the science is hard, the tech is hard, and the experimental bias is baked in (i.e. the assumption that there are dangerous levels of radiation, etc.) You need to discuss more about the research you’ve done and your tech abilities and, other than working with Eric, how you will get tech help if needed.
– the first caveat

I need to break this “caveat” down to better interpret and to reply.
there has to be enough radiation to sense.” The definition of radiation is the transmission of energy from some source in the form of particles or waves.

We are bombarded by and sense radiation from the moment we are born using our skin and the Human Vision System. What we detect is within the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with a little infra-red and ultraviolet. High school science informs us that we are surrounded by every manner of radiation: AM-FM radio waves, EMF from lamp cord to subway car motors and everything in between. We are routinely exposed to nearly every portion of the electromagnetic spectrum at some point in our lives. My project addresses the sensing of ionizing radiation. Sometimes we see the color blue. Sometimes we do not. Sometimes there will be ionizing radiation to sense. Other times not.

and a super super sensitive sensor,” This contradicts the preceding thought (there has to be enough radiation to sense, and a super super sensitive sensor, “) and isn’t worth addressing. Given that the project is specifically sensing Alpha, Beta, and Gamma radiation, if there is detection, then there is radiation present to sense – within the project’s range. The device is not intended to replace an orbital platform or the hardware which is routinely used in screening border crossings. In other words, it will be sensitive enough and doesn’t “have” to be any more than what it is.

“and it has to be something we could wear, not a haz mat suit obviously.

For a bastion of art and technology; an educational institution which brands itself as a “Center for the Recently Possible,” there are a heck of a lot of assumptions, conditions, limitations, and prejudicial thoughts promulgated by an anonymous individual who represents ITP, Tisch, and NYU. The entire first sentence of this “caveat” is ill-thought, juvenile and without merit.

“Or is this for specialists, not ordinary folk?

As stated in my thesis description, I intend to create a piece of wearable jewelry. With that as a given, unless the writer is disabled in a truly unusual manner, even they should be able to attach it to a garment or a body part.

Seems really hard — the science is hard, the tech is hard,

This is true. I purposely chose a project which was at the periphery of my ability. That is how I have worked since the 1970s. If it is easy, it isn’t worth doing.

and the experimental bias is baked in (i.e. the assumption that there are dangerous levels of radiation, etc.)

I am perplexed by the apparent objection referencing “experimental bias” in this project.

Again, the reviewer/critic/”adviser” has created yet another in a chain of assumptive propositions. Not unlike Oscar Wilde’s discussion regarding the nature of books, the device is an indicator of the presence of ionizing radiation. It does not presume to label radiation levels as “dangerous” or acceptable. Those valuations traditionally fall within the provenance of scientific bodies and governments.

Should an individual choose to subscribe to recently revised standards for radiation exposure by Japan, Professor Allison’s AHARS (As High As Relatively Safe), those proposed by the military, nuclear power industry, or the linear no-threshold model to ionizing radiation, that final qualification of dangerous is ultimately a personal decision.

The fact that industry – and the governments which it influences – creates and promotes its own standards is beyond this discussion. However this is part of a body of questions which I intend this object to create.

“….the assumption that there are dangerous levels of radiation, etc.)

This utterly specious comment is akin to saying that seventy years of internationally peer-reviewed data is somehow equal to that of an individual with a dissenting opinion.

I will take published peer-reviewed fact over opinion any time.

There are limits for exposure to radiation to bone, eye, organs, and skinx in most countries – even if these limits were raised after a nuclear event. If exposure to ionizing radiation wasn’t an issue, there wouldn’t be limits.

How exactly did the individual who voiced this “caveat” regarding my project enter the thesis review process anyway? The project’s stated purpose is to create a wearable radiation detector and to share that information with the greater community.

The bias which is “baked in” would be that of the reviewer’s response.

Public utility spokesperson Jennifer Manfre and Forbes contributor Tim Worstall) point out that there is already radiation in our bananas. Like the critic of my thesis project, they share the same line of reasoning which maintains that are safe levels for exposure to ionizing radiation. Marines After Atomic Test

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is another concept known as the “linear no-threshold model to ionizing radiation,” which is based on the physics of what happens when ionizing radiation interacts with living tissue. This is a schema which is at odds with a heavily subsidized industry.

As with the petrochemical and mega-agriculture businesses, the energy industry has effective lobbyists as well.

Congress told NRC to stop enforcing existing regulations or we’ll cut your budget 40%,” said David Lochbaum. June 4th, 1998. “That’s the day the NRC even stopped pretending to be an aggressive regulator.”

The video link below is of Thom Hartmann and David Lochbaum. Mr. Lochbaum is a Nuclear Engineer and the Director of the Nuclear Safety Project in the Union of Concerned Scientists (ucsusa) Global Security Program.

Center for Disease Control video series on scanning for radiation on people. Axiomatically if there wasn’t an issue with exposure to ionizing radiation, these videos wouldn’t exist.

You need to discuss more about the research you’ve done

The thesis section of my blog contains much of my research and includes the rationale for the project. While incomplete, the following table contains some research:

Gamma photodiode detector: Gamma/X-Ray detector with PIN PD X-ray Detector
Nuclear glossary Types of ionizing radiation X-Ray Detector 2
Alpha particles X-Rays Common Radionuclides
Geiger Counter History Marco Kaloften, PE Radiation Network
Crookes Luminous Sea Crookes Tubes Rutherford and Alpha Particles
Marines as Test Subjects Children of the Atomic Bomb What does radiation do to living things?

and your tech abilities and, other than working with Eric, how you will get tech help if needed.

I have been constructing objects possessing a distinct technological character since 1974. These have included interactive works of varying scale from the invention of electronic jewelry, wall-sized works, an interactive building, a flame which speaks the collected names of God, and the current series of monumental site specific installations and performances begun in 1996.

For years I worked alone, then eventually hired my first employee. We worked out of my NYC apartment until I had too many people to share one bathroom. My first studio space (apart from where I lived) was at 135 Fifth Avenue (20th St). When Mykro Dot and my studio was in full gear, I was selling to twenty-seven countries and represented by Alan Spiegelman who was headquartered at New York City’s Gift Center. By that time I had eleven full-time employees and was using a number of job-shops to help with assembly. My product line was represented in showrooms in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Dallas. During those years I did one and sometimes two trade shows every year (mostly the Fashion and Boutique shows in NY, San Francisco, and Houston). Robin Williams was my first collector of electronic jewelry. The countries I exported most to were Brazil, Iceland, Japan, Germany, and Great Britain. My designs made it into Warhol’s Interview Magazine, Mademoiselle, a number of catalogs, and a television commercial.

Beginning in 1993 I wrote and taught a series of courses at New York City’s School of Visual Arts within the MFA and BFA Computer Art programs. These courses included “History of Art and Technology of the Twentieth Century,” “Electrical Engineering for Artists,” “Digital Sculpture,” and “Advanced Computer Systems.”

Following my vision has created a career with a number of “firsts.” Psyche was the first interactive, computer-mediated sculptural volume (1994). It featured a helical electric arc which ran vertically through a three-foot long copper helix (which was constructed through electroforming over eight months in my studio). The sculpture was animated by one of the first Basic Stamps (buggy, btw) shipped by Parallax and programmed in Assembler.

I have exhibited work and had residencies in ten countries. My work is featured in Art of the Digital Age by Bruce Wands and most recently 3D Printing for Artists, Designers and Makers: Technology Crossing Art and Industry by Stephen Hoskins.

Before there was an internet, there was Thomas Register, trade shows, showrooms, manufacturing in the United States, and plenty of interesting technology for sale on Canal Street.

Within the polyglot which defines ITP, Professor Eric Rosenthal continues to be a source of information, support, and vision. I am fortunate to have access to physicists Francois Grey, Marco Kaltofen, Arnie Gundersen, and theoretical physicist and photographer, Manuel Rotenberg.

I should be able to figure the technical end of this project out.

(2) “Interesting idea. I actually am always curious how much daily radiation I am getting. It would be interesting if he could collect the readings and geo-tag the locations and allow people to add to a database of the radioactive areas around the globe. Kind of like openpaths.cc with radiation detection.”

Listed below are a number of sites which currently map radiation. Subsequent models may be bluetooth enabled (or hard-wired), talk to an application, and plot in real-time (or after uploading). That aspect of engagement is beyond the simple scope of my project: create a simple wearable detector of ionizing radiation and to create additional discussion, interest, and investigation into an otherwise unseen world.

The EPA Nuclear Emergency Tracking Center Desert Research Institute BlackCat Systems
Earth Spiral Radiation Network Fukushima Prefecture Japan Radiation
Map
Radioactive@Home Safecast Germany Not really a map

 

 

“How much radiation is ok?”

European Nuclear Society:
The effective dose for members of the public must not exceed 1 mSv/year.

On May 24, 2011, Japan raised the  exposure rate from 1 millisievert to 20 millisieverts per year (ABC)

In the United States safe limits have been “relaxed” under  President Obama’s administration. For drinking water, “the new EPA guide refers to International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines that suggest intervention is not necessary until drinking water is contaminated with radioactive iodine 131 at a concentration of 81,000 picocuries per liter. This is 27,000 times less stringent than the (current) EPA rule of 3 picocuries per liter.” (Forbes)  President Obama’s action of raising radiation levels follows President Bush’s action which created huge hikes in what was considered allowable amounts of radiation indrinking water, air, and soil.  (PEER)

MIT explanation of basic conversions:

1 gray (Gy) = 100 rad
1 rad = 10 milligray (mGy)
1 sievert (Sv) = 1,000 millisieverts (mSv) = 1,000,000 microsieverts (μSv)
1 sievert = 100 rem
1 becquerel (Bq) = 1 count per second (cps)
1 curie = 37,000,000,000 becquerel = 37 Gigabecquerels (GBq)

For x-rays and gamma rays, 1 rad = 1 rem = 10 mSv
For neutrons, 1 rad = 5 to 20 rem (depending on energy level) = 50-200 mSv
For alpha radiation (helium-4 nuclei), 1 rad = 20 rem = 200 mSv

Fukushima: Ongoing Lessons

Mr. Naoto Kan, former Prime Minister of Japan
Dr. Gregory Jaczko, Former Chairman United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Ralph Nader, American, political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney
Then there are individuals who have less of a problem with the question of radioactivity:
Statistics are skewed
Dr. McCollough’s position used to be considered the diametrically opposed view of what is called the Linear No Threshold Approach.

There are a number of scientists who believe that the less radiation you have in your life, the better; the lower your candidacy for radiation related issues (i.e. cancer). Arnie Gundersen of FaireWinds.org is one such individual.

One acronym in the video below is B.E.I.R. BEIR Biological Efects of Ionizing Radiation states that radiation exposure and cancer are linear: the more radiation you are exposed to, the greater your likelihood of contracting cancer.


Cancer Risk UnderEstimated in Japan: Arnie Gundersen & Ian Goddard p1/2

Examples cited in the video:
100 REM (1 Sv) Exposure = 1/10 chance of contracting cancer
10 REM (100 mSv) = 1/100 chances of contracting cancer
1 REM (10 mSv) = 1/1000 chances of contracting cancer

The Japanese government is currently encouraging its citizens to return to areas where the exposure rate will be 2 REM (20 mSv)

Crowdsourced data, commercial, and DIY radiation detection and mapping

Crowd-sourced post Fukushima radiation tracking is doing what it can to fill the public’s need to know. Readily available geiger counters range from $1095 to $50 with smartphone modules at the lower end of the price scale. Safecast, RadiationWatch, and GeigerCounters.com
Safecast is a global project working to empower people with data, primarily by mapping radiation levels and building a sensor network, enabling people to both contribute and freely use the data collected. After the 3/11 earthquake and resulting nuclear situation at Fukushima Diachi it became clear that people wanted more data than what was available. Through joint efforts with partners such as International Medcom, Keio University, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and GlobalGiving, Safecast has been building a radiation sensor network comprised of static and mobile sensors actively being deployed around Japan – both near the exclusion zone and elsewhere in the country.

Safecast supports the idea that more data – freely available data – is better. Our goal is not to single out any individual source of data as untrustworthy, but rather to contribute to the existing measurement data and make it more robust. Multiple sources of data are always better and more accurate when aggregated.”

GeigerCounters.com is about as eponymous a name as a web store can have:
GeigerCounters.com
Radiation-Watch is another DIY organization which has developed smartphone and Arduino modules.
Radiation Watch, Japan

Radiation and weather app

Radiation Watch, UK

Crowdsourcing Radiation Data

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radiation and Reason

In researching materials addressing objections to my thesis, I came across a book and accompanying website by Professor Wade Allison. Having read Merchants of Doubt (Naomi Oreskes) I found Professor Allison’s radically dissenting opinion regarding the limits of radiation disturbing.
Wade Allison“In Radiation and Reason: The Impact of Science on a Culture of Fear Wade Allison explains, in simple terms and without using fancy maths, how radiation affects life. Wade is a Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford with 40 years of teaching experience.His account challenges the traditional view that nuclear radiation is hard to understand and an extreme hazard. Modern scientific and medical evidence makes it obvious that this view is wrong — but how dangerous is ionising radiation?Thanks to evolution, biology protects life and radiation is about a thousand times safer than suggested by current international safety standards — but readers should look at the evidence for themselves and make up their own minds.  Radiation and Reason, Wade AllisonA little nuclear radiation is quite harmless and in a world of other dangers — social and economic instability, global warming, population growth, shortages of power, food and water — the pursuit of the lowest possible radiation levels is in nobody’s best interest. Levels should be permitted as high as is relatively safe (AHARS). Radiation, far from being a major cause of cancer, is one of its major cures through radiotherapy applied in every major hospital.

Without justification great damage has been inflicted on public health and economic life in Japan as a result of the accident at Fukushima. Throughout the world the intention of many countries to abandon the use of nuclear power or load it with ever greater safety regulation and cost is unnecessary, and even dangerous to the future of mankind. Evidently there should be a complete change of approach by the United Nations towards radiological safety.”
Wade Allison

Nuclear Waste Documentary

Coincidentally, we just sprung a leak at a nuclear waste repository in New Mexico.  The “disposal” plan here is to put steel containers in an “ancient” salt dome deep underground and eventually collapse the tunnels, effectively sealing the place off.

Though you can’t help but who is going to do what when the salt works its way through the steel.

“Officials at WIPP continue to monitor the situation,” spokeswoman Deb Gill said to the LA Times back on Monday. “We are emphasizing there is no threat to human health and the environment.”

She also said that officials know very little about the extent and source of the problem or how to solve it.
LA Times Radiation leak in New Mexico

Official who raised safety concerns at Hanford nuclear site is fired

By Ralph Vartabedian • February 18, 2014, 5:31 p.m.

The head of nuclear safety for the cleanup of the former nuclear weapons site at Hanford, Wash., was fired Tuesday after allegations she made over several years that the construction project was ignoring serious safety problems.

“Donna Busche, an employee of San Francisco-based URS Corp., said executives at the company told her she was being fired for “unprofessional conduct” before she was escorted out of the company’s offices at the site in central Washington.

The company denied that her dismissal was punitive or connected to her criticism of the project.

Busche is at least the third senior project official at Hanford who has been fired or who left under duress after raising concerns about safety at the massive $13.4-billion construction project, which has been stalled for more than a year over concerns about its basic design.”
LA Times  (Read the complete article by clicking on the link)

Hanford Nuclear Site

Wikipedia entry for Hanford:

he Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including: Hanford Project, Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW and Hanford Nuclear Reservation or HNR. Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project in the town of Hanford in south-central Washington, the site was home to the B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world.[1] Plutonium manufactured at the site was used in the first nuclear bomb, tested at the Trinity site, and in Fat Man, the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan.

During the Cold War, the project was expanded to include nine nuclear reactors and five large plutonium processing complexes, which produced plutonium for most of the more than 60,000 weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.[2][3] Nuclear technology developed rapidly during this period, and Hanford scientists produced many notable technological achievements. Many of the early safety procedures and waste disposal practices were inadequate, and government documents have since confirmed that Hanford’s operations released significant amounts of radioactive materials into the air and the Columbia River, which still threatens the health of residents and ecosystems.[4]

The weapons production reactors were decommissioned at the end of the Cold War, but the decades of manufacturing left behind 53 million US gallons (200,000 m3) of high-level radioactive waste,[5] an additional 25 million cubic feet (710,000 m3) of solid radioactive waste, 200 square miles (520 km2) of contaminated groundwater beneath the site[6] and occasional discoveries of undocumented contaminations that slow the pace and raise the cost of cleanup.[7]

The Hanford site represents two-thirds of the nation’s high-level radioactive waste by volume.[8] Hanford is currently the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States[9][10] and is the focus of the nation’s largest environmental cleanup.[2]