Big earthquake in Japan

[JBaymore]

Reuters:

"GENEVA/VIENNA — An increase in the severity level of Japan's nuclear accident does not mean the public health risk is any worse or that the disaster resembles Chernobyl in 1986, global expert bodies said on Tuesday.

"Our public health assessment is the same today as it was yesterday," World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl told Reuters, explaining that the higher rating was the result of combining the amounts of radiation leaking from three reactors and counting them as a single incident.

"At the moment there is very little public health risk outside the 30-km (evacuation) zone."


best,

.................john

[termogard]

Radiation in Tokyo returns to pre-disaster level

TOKYO, April 13, Kyodo

The maximum radiation level in Tokyo in the 16 hours through 9 a.m. Wednesday fell to the normal range seen before the occurrence of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on March 11, the science ministry said.

The level fell to 0.079 microsieverts per hour from the maximum level of 0.093 microsieverts detected Monday to Tuesday, returning to the pre-disaster range for Tokyo at 0.028-0.079 microsieverts, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Among other areas, the maximum radiation level in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, fell to 0.142 microsieverts from 0.159 microsieverts. The pre-disaster range there was 0.036-0.056 microsieverts.

The level in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, where the pre-disaster range was 0.0176-0.0513 microsieverts, dropped to 0.080 microsieverts from 0.084 microsieverts, it said.

But the maximum radiation level in the city of Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled nuclear power plant, leveled off at 2.100 microsieverts against the pre-disaster range of 0.037-0.046 microsieverts.

The maximum radiation level in Namie, Fukushima, located 30 kilometers northwest of the nuclear plant, stood at 26.4 microsieverts at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday.

A human being receives radiation of 50 microsieverts from one chest X-ray.

==Kyodo

[dogsbody70]

Fukushima crisis now at Chernobyl level | The Japan Times Online

[GoNative]

It's just a catchy headline dogsbody. If you actually read the article you get some idea of how different the two events actually are. If you read anything from pretty much anyone then you get some idea of the difference between the two events. They are nowhere near the same.

Still not one death and not one person admitted for acute radiation sickness. And unlikely to be any.

[JBaymore]

Let's run the numbers.

Looking at the Fukushima-shi rate: 2.1 microSieverts/hr.

24 hours in a day X 30 days in a month = 720 hours

If you stood outside for 24 hours a day (this kind of radiation is greatly decreased by the sheilding that is provided by common building materials) for the entire month, if the rate remains constant at that 2.1 microSieverts/hr. rate, you'd accumulate a dosage of 1512 microSieverts.

(2.1 x 24 x 30 = 1512)

A microSievert is 1/1000 of a milliSievert. So dividing by 1000 gives you 1.512 milliSiverts of total exposure for that time.

The amount of radiation that a nuclear plant worker is routinely allowed to be exposed to in a year is 50 milliSieverts. One has to think that there is some latitude in that number too.... that at a dosage of 50.000001 the person does not suddenly keel over and die or instantly get cancer. And remember that people have lifelong careers in the industry and aren't dropping like flies. So that is not some sort of "drop dead" (no pun intended) number.

To reach that 50 miliSievert level at the current dosage rate, someone would have to stand outside 24/7 per month for a total of 33 straight months......... 2.7 years!. Of course, no one is going to stant outside 24 hours a day 7 days a week for a month.

If a person was outside only 12 hours of the 24 hours in a day, that doubles the time to reach the exposure limit to almost 5 1/2 years.

Take something off for the radiation that does get through the building materials for the 12 hours of indoor time.... and you are still looking at a LONG time.

Is this normal.... absolutely NOT. But "doom and gloom, we're all gonna die, panic inducing"...... shoudn't be.

best,

.......................john

[GoNative]

And you have to assume that the levels won't decrease at all in all those years but of course they will dramatically, as they have already.

[JBaymore]

Originally Posted by GoNative

And you have to assume that the levels won't decrease at all in all those years but of course they will dramatically, as they have already.

Right on, GoNative!

[Shaelyn]

a good comparison, I think:

BBC News - How does Fukushima differ from Chernobyl?

[BobbyCooper]

Thanks for the BBC News Shaelyn.

Originally Posted by termogard

Radiation in Tokyo returns to pre-disaster level

TOKYO, April 13, Kyodo

The maximum radiation level in Tokyo in the 16 hours through 9 a.m. Wednesday fell to the normal range seen before the occurrence of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on March 11, the science ministry said.

The level fell to 0.079 microsieverts per hour from the maximum level of 0.093 microsieverts detected Monday to Tuesday, returning to the pre-disaster range for Tokyo at 0.028-0.079 microsieverts, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Among other areas, the maximum radiation level in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, fell to 0.142 microsieverts from 0.159 microsieverts. The pre-disaster range there was 0.036-0.056 microsieverts.

The level in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, where the pre-disaster range was 0.0176-0.0513 microsieverts, dropped to 0.080 microsieverts from 0.084 microsieverts, it said.

But the maximum radiation level in the city of Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled nuclear power plant, leveled off at 2.100 microsieverts against the pre-disaster range of 0.037-0.046 microsieverts.

The maximum radiation level in Namie, Fukushima, located 30 kilometers northwest of the nuclear plant, stood at 26.4 microsieverts at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday.

A human being receives radiation of 50 microsieverts from one chest X-ray.

==Kyodo

This is very informative

Thanks very much!

[siokan]

2 October 2010
Two people who intruded into to demonstration of Senkaku Islands problem and were arrested.
33660[1].jpg

10 April 2011
Appearance of abolition demonstration of nuclear plant.
Clerk in charge who is inducing demonstration.
MUCPV[1].jpg