GeoSphere

Iodine-129

Tracking the Fallout and Fate of Fukushima Iodine-129 in Rain and Groundwater

December 21, 2015
Tracking the Fallout and Fate of Fukushima Iodine-129 in Rain and Groundwater

A recently published paper (by myself and colleagues from uOttawa and Environment Canada) investigates the environmental fate of the long lived radioisotope of iodine, 129I, which was released by the Fukushima-Daichii Nuclear Accident (FDNA). Within 6 days of the FDNA 129I concentrations in Vancouver precipitation increased 5-15 times above pre-Fukushima concentrations and then rapidly returned to background. The concentrations of 129I …[Read More]

My DEFENCE! Follow live tweets with #129I @ 2:30pm ET

November 16, 2015
My DEFENCE! Follow live tweets with #129I @ 2:30pm ET

My PhD defence is this week (Wednesday) at 2:30pm ET. I am feeling pretty good about the whole thing but at the same time nervous. I just don’t know exactly what to expect. I have a sort of idea of what the questions might cover and where my assumptions or conclusions might be challenged. However, …[Read More]

Photo of the Week #49

October 19, 2015
Photo of the Week #49

This week’s photo is from my personal research and shows a precipitate that I generated in the lab one day of AgI (silver iodide) for analysis of 129I by accelerator mass spectrometry. I felt though that I wanted to verify the purity of the AgI so I quickly threw in on our scanning electron microscope …[Read More]

GeoPoll: What should we do with radioactive waste?

February 2, 2015
GeoPoll: What should we do with radioactive waste?

I don’t think it is any secret that the world is facing an imminent energy crisis. We are trying to generate more power than ever before, but at the same time, we now realize we have to do it in a sustainable way that does not harm the environment or exacerbate any existing issues such …[Read More]