Seen here is my outside radiation station showing the same elevated readings as EPA gamma stations. While I have no proof of its source, the EPA readings help to confirm again that my outside radiation station is working just as expected as my early warning system. What seems like a beautiful day for my family outside, clearly is not. We are sheltering in place today in the house with the indoor HEPA air purifiers running on high. Nuclear plants & their byproducts SUCK!

UPDATE: Nearby Byron Nuclear Plant had a refueling (opened & vented) of reactor #2 around this time. This very likely was all or part of the source of the detections.

Recently things have been very peaceful radiation wise around here, until now. Please see the spike in the graph below. This is the reason we do not leave our windows open at night. We never know ahead of time when the radiation will come.

Today Monday May 16, 2016 at 11:00 a.m CDT I replaced my outside radiation monitoring station HEPA filter. This time I'm trying a different filter. This one has Zeolite in it which is known for better collection of radioactive isotopes. It also has carbon in the filter. This filter does not seem as fine as my previous one. If my readings do not reflect my normal readings, I will need to replace it with the same type I have previously been using.

Filter seen here:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/aer1-Odor-Eliminator-HEPA-Replacement-Filter/17617419

Byron Nuclear Plant (the nearest nuclear plant to me) has had their unit 2 reactor shutdown for a refueling outage since April 18, 2016. Yesterday on May 15 they attempted to restart unit 2 but due to a radiation water leak of over 35 gallons per minute (the leak appears to have been caused by human error) they had to shut it back down again. The reports I have received so far from people within view of the plant say reactor unit 2 still is not running.

See link to local news report and such herein: https://www.netc.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1556

The new filter (different type) I put on earlier today didn't work out. It was clear to me that the readings were too low and therefore it was passing too much air without filtering it correctly.

I just replaced it (11:40 p.m. CST) with the same brand and type of filter that I have used previously.

Filter seen here:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/aer1-HEPA-Replacement-Filter-2pk/17617420

The month of May has been an interesting month. I have seen more elevated readings this May than I did in April. Of course, I can't confirm any one source for these elevated readings. It is worth noting that most of my high readings happened between late evening to early morning. This is common because that is mostly when the upper atmosphere lowers down to the ground and any radioactive contamination in the area at that time comes down too. This is why our family avoids being outside during those times. When these high readings occur outside of those time, rain or other more serious factors are causing it to happen and more attention to the possible source needs to me conducted.

I just replaced my outside radiation station HEPA filter today 06/15/2016 at 6:35 a.m. CST.

Last night we had large thunderstorms that started around 11:40 p.m. and while normally the rain never hits my unit, it did last night. The blowing rain soaked my filter. I woke up today and looked at my graph and the low radiation detections told me just that, because water shields radiation.

I believe that I may have found the cause for my increased radiation levels that seems to have started in my area on June 17, 2016 as seen below. Forest fires spread radiation and the fires in Arizona started on the 15th as seen in this report below. http://www.dcourier.com/news/2016/jun/21/26-fires-burning-across-arizona/

FYI - I am working on my 24/7 outside radiation monitoring station today.

Update: 3:30 CST My station maintenance is complete. I replaced the filter with a new one and put the GMC-200 in a new zip lock bag to keep it dry. The geiger counter is tilted so rain water will run down the geiger counter wires away from the power and audio jack inputs. I also replaced the plastic covering the Holmes air purifier controls to also avoid water damage.

My stations maintenance downtime from today can be seen here on my graph.

I've read recently where some people who have been watching the Fukushima live webcam have stated seeing more than normal releases.

This may explain why the EPA sites are down, who knows. What I do know is that during elevated readings detected from my outside 24/7 station, my family will stay inside.