Monitoring for Plutonium

Plutonium is a pure Alpha emitter so it is impossible to detect in the environment with Geiger Counters. Its different isotopes decay to isotopes of Uranium. Mostly these are Alpha emitters too. One of them has a weak gamma signal but this will be swamped by the big gamma emitters in the fallout, like Caesium 137.

The best way to find out if Plutonium and Uranium are contaminating your environment is to take samples so they can be measured and identified later using alpha spectrometry. This is expensive, so we shall have to raise money to get it done.

Taking samples
Don't go outdoors while there are high gamma readings - the Plutonium and Uranium will still be there later.
Wear disposable gloves and take care not to contaminate your skin. Using a disposable blade or scrap of wood, scrape up the topmost layer of soil, or skim the sediment from a rainwater or snow-melt puddle. We need about 50 grams for each sample. If you have suitable watertight containers you can also sample pond water, rainwater and snowmelt. Minimum 50 millilitres.
Put each sample into a sealable plastic bag, label it with the date and location. Seal the bags and store them where they won't be lost or messed around by children. So long as the packaging remains intact there is no radiation hazard, so on top of the wardrobe is a good place. Don't send them to us yet

Let us know you have taken samples. If and when we have raised enough money to get the analyses done we will get in touch with you.
Meanwhile perhaps you could publicise your efforts and raise some money.