radiation

[muldoon]

Seems to continue to be lots of scaremongering going around about the radiation from Japan.  I would like to open up some honest factual discussion around the topic and hopefully put some myths to rest.

First, what is the scale of the problem in Japan?  Is it a Chernobil?  Is it a Three Mile Island?  How bad is it?

Public countermeasures: TMI - voluntary evacuation within 5 miles, Chernobyl - 30km exclusion zone, Fukushima - 20km evacuation and shelter up to 30km.

Public Doses: TMI - max 0.1 mSv, Chernobyl - max 150 mSv...Fukushima...no data available, but dose rates beyond the shelter area are 0.04mSv/hr = 1mSv/day.

Noble gas release: TMI - 3E17Bq of Xe-133, Chernobyl - Lots, Fukushima - not known...

Iodine release: TMI - 5E11 Bq, Chernobyl - 1.7E18 Bq, Fukushima - one ground ground measurements of 1E5 MBq/km2 outside of shelter zone...so must be more than TMI

Caesium contamination: TMI - no contamination foot print, Chernobyl >185kBq/m2, Fukushima - 12kBq/m2 measured outside of 30km zone...

So on the scale of things Fukushima has had more consequence in terms of countermeasures than TMI and most evidence points to a bigger release.

--
Ok, from the three events, Three Mile Island being the least damaging having almost zero radiation leak out - to Chernobyl.  This Japan event is a bit more than TMI, but well under Chernobyl.  The most damaging piece to chernobyl was the graphite fire that could not be put out causing the particles to swirl high into the atmosphere where they were carried away.  Based on what we know about Japan, this is not the case at all.  The risk is apparently no where the scale of Chernobyl.  

As for radiation, one should be aware of three or four key facts.  

Radiation is around us everywhere, radiation, radio, RF, doctors offices, dentists, airplanes, granite, pencils, fruit, etc.  Something being radioactive does not mean it is life threatening.  Levels of radiation are important.  

You can watch realtime radiation levels here: If your not seeing a value over 130, your seeing nothing.  
http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

Radiation is largely a localized danger.  Meaning radiation weakens with distance.  Shielding is measured for reduction in "halving units".  Meaning so much of material X will half the radiation that is allowed to pass through.  For example, 4.7 inches of concrete will halve the radiation level.  So will .7 inches of lead.  Or about 100 meters of air.  Yes, a football field away from source will halve the radiation.   http://ohioline.osu.edu/rer-fact/rer_26.html

How far is Japan?  About 5-6-7000 miles away.  The radiation will not drift over.  The concern that people are reacting to is the movement of the jet stream bringing particles over, and those particles being very close to people in the US.  Again, there is no fire in Japan - that was why Chernobyl was so dangerous. They had a graphite fire that could not be put out because of the chemical makeup of the reactor.  Those ashes spread up into the atmosphere with the fire and spread.  

So watch the monitors, be aware of how minimal the real radiation risk is.  Dont panic.  Panic is almost always the wrong move.

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What if there is a reason to panic?

If radiation levels do get to a point where you need to shield yourself, or your thyroid for that matter, here is what I would be doing.  Duck tape and plastic sheets.  Seal myself at home except for ventilation I could control.  Stop particles from coming in and shelter in place.  Dont be on the roads, dont be out and about.  Let time pass, let a few days or a week pass.  Radiation levels will be 1/10th in 24 hours of an event, 1/100 in 48 hours.  Shelter in place and keep contamination low.  

If you are contaminated, shower, throw your clothes and shoes away.  It is not contagious, but can be spread.  These are particles.  In such a scenario they would be in the air, so get rid of them and do not ingest them.  

Finally, if you are immersed in radiation at an unsafe level, only use Potassium Iodide.  Not Potassium Iodate.  Only Potassium Iodide has been tested to be effective at mitigating radiaiotn sickness.  It also does not "cure all".  It is only effective at protecting your thyroid from one or two istopes.  Others like strontium 90 have no blocker at all.  BY FAR, the most effective protection is to stay away from high levels of radiation.  

Lastly, using the wrong thing can do far more damage than doing nothing.  The only person to have died in Japan that can be attributed to the Nuclear issue is a chinese national, who died from Iodine poisoning because he ate table salt until his body shut down.  His fear was the danger.  

[peternap]

I think you're spot on with most of it Muldoon. Certainly the countermeasures are correct from what I understand.
I think there is zero risk to the United States from the radiation. Economic fallout is yet to be determined.

The risk in Japan is still unclear to me. You never get the full picture. My guess is that there is far more risk down the road due to water pollution, both the immediate seawater and more important, the ground water.

The death rate needs to be calculated years from now. I doubt there will be many that die now from exposure. What will happen in 5 years is anyone's guess.

Whatever happens with radiation, it will be minor compared to the lasting effects of the tsunami and the deaths it has already caused.

[angieb123]

I started taking Organic Iodine (Colloidal) , not Potassium Iodide/Iodate. This is supposed to be for daily maintenance, but can be taken in higher doses as a Radioactive Iodine blocker. I get it from HHA. I appreciate all the information you've posted and can only hope we are all prepared. I would rather be safe than sorry.  

[Windpower]

http://counterpunch.org/takashi03222011.html

Interview with Hirose Takashi, author of many books on nuclear safety

snip from the interview


Hirose: For example, yesterday.  Around Fukushima Daiichi Station they measured 400 millisieverts – that's per hour.  With this measurement (Chief Cabinet Secretary) Edano admitted for the first time that there was a danger to health, but he didn't explain what this means.  All of the information media are at fault here I think.  They are saying stupid things like, why, we are exposed to radiation all the time in our daily life, we get radiation from outer space.  But that's one millisievert per year.  A year has 365 days, a day has 24 hours; multiply 365 by 24, you get 8760.  Multiply the 400 millisieverts by that, you get 3,500,000 the normal dose.  You call that safe?  And what media have reported this?  None.  They compare it to a CT scan, which is over in an instant; that has nothing to do with it.  The reason radioactivity can be measured is that radioactive material is escaping.  What is dangerous is when that material enters your body and irradiates it from inside.  These industry-mouthpiece scholars come on TV and what to they say?  They say as you move away the radiation is reduced in inverse ratio to the square of the distance.  I want to say the reverse.  Internal irradiation happens when radioactive material is ingested into the body.  What happens?  Say there is a nuclear particle one meter away from you. You breathe it in, it sticks inside your body; the distance between you and it is now at the micron level. One meter is 1000 millimeters, one micron is one thousandth of a millimeter.  That's a thousand times a thousand: a thousand squared.  That's the real meaning of "inverse ratio of the square of the distance."  Radiation exposure is increased by a factor of a trillion.  Inhaling even the tiniest particle, that's the danger.

Yoh:  So making comparisons with X-rays and CT scans has no meaning.  Because you can breathe in radioactive material.

Hirose:  That's right.  When it enters your body, there's no telling where it will go.  The biggest danger is women, especially pregnant women, and little children.  Now they're talking about iodine and cesium, but that's only part of it, they're not using the proper detection instruments.  What they call monitoring means only measuring the amount of radiation in the air.  Their instruments don't eat.  What they measure has no connection with the amount of radioactive material. . . .

Yoh:  So damage from radioactive rays and damage from radioactive material are not the same.

Hirose:  If you ask, are any radioactive rays from the Fukushima Nuclear Station here in this studio, the answer will be no.  But radioactive particles are carried here by the air.  When the core begins to melt down, elements inside like iodine turn to gas.  It rises to the top, so if there is any crevice it escapes outside.

Yoh:  Is there any way to detect this?

Hirose: I was told by a newspaper reporter that now Tepco is not in shape even to do regular monitoring.  They just take an occasional measurement, and that becomes the basis of Edano's statements.  You have to take constant measurements, but they are not able to do that.  And you need to investigate just what is escaping, and how much.  That requires very sophisticated measuring instruments.  You can't do it just by keeping a monitoring post.  It's no good just to measure the level of radiation in the air.  Whiz in by car, take a measurement, it's high, it's low – that's not the point.  We need to know what kind of radioactive materials are escaping, and where they are going – they don't have a system in place for doing that now.

[considerations]

And....the governmental mouth pieces who are making all of these announcements about how safe we are now will be long gone when the long-term effects come home to roost.

[Sassy]

Hopefully they suffer for their lies...

[StinkerBell]

Radiation dose chart

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

[glenn kangiser]

http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/UCBAirSampling

I trust Berkeley a bit more than .gov.... Looks good for now.  Looks like daily updates.

[considerations]

a new chapter?


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/fukushima-engineer-says-he-covered-up-flaw-at-shut-reactor.html