Keeping radiation in context.
- Thread starter Sunfish
- Start date
radiation map:
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=4870
you'd need to convert from nGy/hr into Sv to compare with the chart above
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=4870
you'd need to convert from nGy/hr into Sv to compare with the chart above
Indeed.
2 major issues I am observing in the little snippets of NHK I am able to grab during the day:
1. lack of info (eg at what levels of say radioactive iodine does it become unsafe for consumption by infants/children in a graded way - some sort of risk rating maybe?; is it safe to use to wash dishes, etc) - and not necessarily just more info on what levels were discovered/where (although this is still useful to know)
2. supply of alternate sources. I am seeing the government shipping bottled mineral/spring (I assume) water out to families in affected areas, and was curious to know if there were more efficient / effective ways. (eg Tap water from an unaffected region in larger units - not 500ml bottles....?) I just saw
http://www.filtersfast.com/blog/index.php/tag/katadyn-microfilters/
although I question if iodine can be "filtered" as it would I imagine be in fact dissovled (as an iodide)? Might be ok for ceasium, and of course particulate contamination....
Would be interested to know your thoughts on the ground.
Hearing from our contacts in Tokyo that panic buying in supermarkets and convini still going on, and petrol still a pain to get without queuing.
My aunt lives in a pretty old danchi, and they need to evac every time there's an aftershock - she said she has to "time" her bathtimes carefully.... although not sure how you'd do that without being able to predict when the next aftershock comes around.
The Y-man
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Also to be considered is the half life of the isotopes. The ones first vented had a very short life, in hours, I think I recall.
I have not found anything new for days now. I am still interested but the news networks aren't apparently.
Half life:
8 days for I-131
Cs-137 nastier 30 years.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110325f1.html
Ok - that same article answered my question re filtering - looks like activated carbon will adsorb (not absorb).
The Y-man
A main concern is the reliability of the data released. Japanese govt and companies always give minimal information and are quick to downplay any situation by releasing false figures. The whole situation here is a farce. Workers sent in to try and fix the plant weren't even given proper shoes and were standing in 15cm of contaminated water that measured over 10000x times the safe level. Although wearing radiation detectors that were warning of high radiation they thought the alarms were false readings as the superiors had told them it was safe. Online radiation monitors around different prefectures are quickly turned off the moment reading start to get too high so the public can not know what the true levels are. The contaminated water around Tokyo was first mentioned by a hospital and not the water company in control who were waiting to see if the levels dropped.
Just watching the clip regarding the water on NNN
The Y-man
5 bottles per customer limit in convenience stores in Tokyo (one store saying thay normally sell 30 bottles per day, now 3000 bottles per day)
Doctors cautioning mothers re use of mineral water for babies - due to higher concentrations of magnesium etc.
People queueing with big water jerries at natural spring at the foot of Mt Fuji (300 people per day - double normal)
A kamaboko maker in Odawara opening their doors for the public to access their well water
Bottlers working 24/7 to keep up with demand - label makers unable to keep up, so they are shipping unlabelled bottles under a special government ruling to allow shipping directly to urgent needs areas.
The Y-man
Look at sunfish chart again and multiply the result by 10 million and not the 10,000 first reported and you start to get an idea of what they are not saying. Too many of the readings taken have been doctored or not released. TEPCO has a history of denial and underplaying problems in the past.
Some history to learn from:
1994, seventy kilograms of plutonium dust enough to build 20 nuclear bombs went missing after being found on pipes and conveyor belts in Tokai plant and cleaned up. International Atomic Energy Agency demanded to know where it was to be told the dust is lost in the system somewhere and still hasn't been found up until today.
1995, Monju reactor near Tsuruga had a major leak of liquid sodium from the cooling system. Donen who manage Japans nuclear program said it was a minimal leak. Later it was found to be over 3 tonnes and the largest accident of its type in the world. They released 5 minutes of filming showing little damaged but edited the rest of the damage. When the council went to investigate the accident they were shut out and refused entry.
1996, Fire in room at at Shizuoka plant caused by build up of discarded paper towels soaked with hydrogen peroxide and used to clean up radioactive contaminated areas. No one knows how long the room was used a dumping ground for paper towels.
1997 Tokai same plant with missing dust has a fire where drums filled with nuclear waste explode. Mixed reports by officials say there was leakage whilst others same no leakage. Eventual it was found that a factor of 20X over the initial report was considered true.
It also took them 30 hours to report leakage of radioactive tritium from another plant, Fugen but this is considered good as in the previous 2 and a half years 11 other leaks were not reported to the authorities.
1998, Donen is replaced by Genden but has same staff, same offices and same philosophy.
1999, Tokai, a private contractor dumped too much uranium into a settling basin that it exploded after reaching critical mass and became uncontrolled nuclear fission. The accident at the time was considered the worlds worst since Chernobyl. Result was sequestration of thousands of people living near the plant, 49 workers exposed to radiation and 3 critical. The plant had gone 17 years without doing repairs to safety equipment and workers used a secret manual supplied by managers to bypass safety regulations. This included the removal by buckets manually of materials that should be disposed of by pumps and dissolution cylinders. Fireman who came to put the fires out were not informed of the nuclear accident and didn't bring protective suits and were all contaminated by radiation.
It took nearly 7 hours before they could get an outside agency to bring in a neutron measurer as there was none available in the whole city which had 15 nuclear facilities. The reading showed 4.5millisievert per hour when the safe dosage is 1 per year. iodine 131 measurements and others weren't done until 5 days later.
1993, Over 2000 drums of low level radioactive waste stored from 1970 onwards were found to be rusting in storage pits full of water and Donen were given 1 billion yen to build sheds to store the drums and take out of the pits.
1999, still no sheds and drums still in pits.
1998, Donen ask for 71 million yen to continue fixing the problem including the removal of sheds never built but included diagrams of how they would repair the storage pits the drums were meant to be removed from.
Donen in an attempt to squash fears by activists against nuclear facilities release an animated video for children showing a character called Pu who gives his friend a glass of plutonium water to drink. The friend drinks 6 glasses and tells how he feels refreshed.
Some history to learn from:
1994, seventy kilograms of plutonium dust enough to build 20 nuclear bombs went missing after being found on pipes and conveyor belts in Tokai plant and cleaned up. International Atomic Energy Agency demanded to know where it was to be told the dust is lost in the system somewhere and still hasn't been found up until today.
1995, Monju reactor near Tsuruga had a major leak of liquid sodium from the cooling system. Donen who manage Japans nuclear program said it was a minimal leak. Later it was found to be over 3 tonnes and the largest accident of its type in the world. They released 5 minutes of filming showing little damaged but edited the rest of the damage. When the council went to investigate the accident they were shut out and refused entry.
1996, Fire in room at at Shizuoka plant caused by build up of discarded paper towels soaked with hydrogen peroxide and used to clean up radioactive contaminated areas. No one knows how long the room was used a dumping ground for paper towels.
1997 Tokai same plant with missing dust has a fire where drums filled with nuclear waste explode. Mixed reports by officials say there was leakage whilst others same no leakage. Eventual it was found that a factor of 20X over the initial report was considered true.
It also took them 30 hours to report leakage of radioactive tritium from another plant, Fugen but this is considered good as in the previous 2 and a half years 11 other leaks were not reported to the authorities.
1998, Donen is replaced by Genden but has same staff, same offices and same philosophy.
1999, Tokai, a private contractor dumped too much uranium into a settling basin that it exploded after reaching critical mass and became uncontrolled nuclear fission. The accident at the time was considered the worlds worst since Chernobyl. Result was sequestration of thousands of people living near the plant, 49 workers exposed to radiation and 3 critical. The plant had gone 17 years without doing repairs to safety equipment and workers used a secret manual supplied by managers to bypass safety regulations. This included the removal by buckets manually of materials that should be disposed of by pumps and dissolution cylinders. Fireman who came to put the fires out were not informed of the nuclear accident and didn't bring protective suits and were all contaminated by radiation.
It took nearly 7 hours before they could get an outside agency to bring in a neutron measurer as there was none available in the whole city which had 15 nuclear facilities. The reading showed 4.5millisievert per hour when the safe dosage is 1 per year. iodine 131 measurements and others weren't done until 5 days later.
1993, Over 2000 drums of low level radioactive waste stored from 1970 onwards were found to be rusting in storage pits full of water and Donen were given 1 billion yen to build sheds to store the drums and take out of the pits.
1999, still no sheds and drums still in pits.
1998, Donen ask for 71 million yen to continue fixing the problem including the removal of sheds never built but included diagrams of how they would repair the storage pits the drums were meant to be removed from.
Donen in an attempt to squash fears by activists against nuclear facilities release an animated video for children showing a character called Pu who gives his friend a glass of plutonium water to drink. The friend drinks 6 glasses and tells how he feels refreshed.
