Are you concerned with radiation? Should people buy Geiger counters?

nomoreketones

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If a nuclear bomb goes off and you are 40 miles downwind then the fallout will arrive in a few hours. If you live closer then it will hit sooner. If you live further away, it will hit later. The Geiger counter can help you find the spot in your house with the lowest radiation level.

The fallout is the most dangerous for the first 24 hours. If you shelter in your house a Geiger counter will help you find the spot with the least radiation. If you live in a single floor structure without a basement you are pretty much ****88 though. At a minimum you really want a two level house with a basement. That way you are below ground level to help shied you from the fallout on the ground around the house and you are far enough from the roof to greatly reduce the radiation coming from the fallout on the roof. Even this is not ideal.

Then in a few days hopefully you will be rescued and taken out of the area to a safer place. Don't forget to take your megadose of iodine too.
 

xborg

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I keep a counter running 24/7 because I live within 30 miles of two nuclear reactors and 120 miles from a third. I want to be among the first to know if there's a leak, especially since they have consistently hushed up those leaks for several days before admitting to them.
 

nomoreketones

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I keep a counter running 24/7 because I live within 30 miles of two nuclear reactors and 120 miles from a third. I want to be among the first to know if there's a leak, especially since they have consistently hushed up those leaks for several days before admitting to them.
What is your plan if the unthinkable happens? Seal all the windows and doors and wait it out? Or drive away?
 

xborg

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For a tritium release I would stay indoors until it passed, which wouldn't be long. Longer term, I plan to move thousands of miles away in less than a year, before anything unthinkable happens. NYC, LA & DC are on the nuclear chopping block in spring 2024 (but that's a long story).
 

RealNeat

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RealNeat

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I keep a counter running 24/7 because I live within 30 miles of two nuclear reactors and 120 miles from a third. I want to be among the first to know if there's a leak, especially since they have consistently hushed up those leaks for several days before admitting to them.
Which brand and do you think it's accurate/ dependable?
 

lvysaur

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How do you test your Geiger counter to make sure it's real and not fake? Would holding it up to sunlight help? (theoretically more radiation)
 

nomoreketones

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How do you test your Geiger counter to make sure it's real and not fake? Would holding it up to sunlight help? (theoretically more radiation)
Wrong kind of radiation from the sun. I believe Geiger counters are for measuring ionizing radiation.
 

amd

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IFALPA: Aircrews are occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation, principally from galactic cosmic radiation. A main source of galactic cosmic radiation is believed to be supernovae. On infrequent occasions, the sun contributes to the ionizing radiation received during air travel. Ionizing radiation consists of subatomic particles that, on interacting with an atom, can cause the atom to lose one or more orbital electrons or even break apart its nucleus.

Wrong kind of radiation from the sun. I believe Geiger counters are for measuring ionizing radiation.
 

Perry Staltic

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Geiger counters detect alpha, beta, gamma radiation and x-rays. In normal use they don't detect cosmic rays
 

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