fukushima fall out

[buddhasummer]

Than you all for pitching in! Yes, the radiation ghost is misused in the press. But the risk is real. And I don't trust the government or nuclear companies in giving us the truth.

This is why I love crowd sourced project like safecast!! Good source of information! Monitors not just Japan but part of US now.
Safecast

A bit off topic. The real damage was done by the tsunami. Still today the Tohoku area in Japan hasn't recovered. Including the coast that had much junk dragged into the sea by the tsunami. A volunteer diving group has been helping to clean this up for years.
A lot of volunteer divers from around the world have joined with them for the cleanup. If anyone is interested in a trip over there, PM me.

Some nice photos
April 2014: The Marine Diving Fair, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan | Rising Bubbles

I went to Souma Shi in Fukushima which is around 40kms from Daiichi just after the tsunami to volunteer. The devestation from the tsunami was unbelievable, to see it with my own eyes was truly shocking. At the time the Japanese government were saying, I don't remember figures, that the radiation levels were one number but the schools I worked at had select children wearing radiation measuring devices and each morning at around 8 and each afternoon at around 4 the principals would go outside into the playground and take measurements. The levels were almost always 2-3 times the figure the TV was reporting. I don't trust them. They had big diggers come to some of the elementary schools and remove the top layer of soil and it would get moved to the end of god field in a big pile and left there with signs telling children not to play there. At the junior high schools they had air purifying type machines placed in each classroom but as Japanese public schools don't have air conditioners during summer the machines would be on but all the windows open even when due to wind direction etc they were advised to keep windows shut.

---------- Post added April 20th, 2014 at 03:26 AM ----------

And yes, 3 years later, it's still a mess with many living in temporary accommodation. All very sad.

 

[NAM001]

Im aq little behind on my nuc stuff, but the windows open or closed is a moot point. the only thing in the air could be alfa. And you had no detonation so that should not be there. beta gama nutron goes right through windows. As far as tthe soil goes i would suspect that was from radiated water from the plant and at that point my knowledge is really weak.

I went to Souma Shi in Fukushima which is around 40kms from Daiichi just after the tsunami to volunteer. The devestation from the tsunami was unbelievable, to see it with my own eyes was truly shocking. At the time the Japanese government were saying, I don't remember figures, that the radiation levels were one number but the schools I worked at had select children wearing radiation measuring devices and each morning at around 8 and each afternoon at around 4 the principals would go outside into the playground and take measurements. The levels were almost always 2-3 times the figure the TV was reporting. I don't trust them. They had big diggers come to some of the elementary schools and remove the top layer of soil and it would get moved to the end of god field in a big pile and left there with signs telling children not to play there. At the junior high schools they had air purifying type machines placed in each classroom but as Japanese public schools don't have air conditioners during summer the machines would be on but all the windows open even when due to wind direction etc they were advised to keep windows shut.

---------- Post added April 20th, 2014 at 03:26 AM ----------

And yes, 3 years later, it's still a mess with many living in temporary accommodation. All very sad.

 

[buddhasummer]

Im aq little behind on my nuc stuff, but the windows open or closed is a moot point. the only thing in the air could be alfa. And you had no detonation so that should not be there. beta gama nutron goes right through windows. As far as tthe soil goes i would suspect that was from radiated water from the plant and at that point my knowledge is really weak.

Your knowledge is greater than mine. I only know what we were told. Lots of misinformation I imagine. In my city we were told to stay indoors as much as possible and keep windows closed but from what you are saying this was of no use. I imagine many things were said to make people feel better/safer. I don't know if this is true either but they were saying sunflowers absorb radiation so on weekends we were out planting sunflowers. Again I have no idea as to the validity but it brought people together, made us feel like we were doing something constructive. The city around 2km south of mine was evacuated but my city was deemed ok, go figure.

 

[NAM001]

This may be a ground water and soil issue. Your location may be of higher altitude than the others o no saturated soil in your area is possible. This kind of thing is never any good. I do believe that compared to other nations programs, the issues you face is far less than would be seen eslewhere.

Your knowledge is greater than mine. I only know what we were told. Lots of misinformation I imagine. In my city we were told to stay indoors as much as possible and keep windows closed but from what you are saying this was of no use. I imagine many things were said to make people feel better/safer. I don't know if this is true either but they were saying sunflowers absorb radiation so on weekends we were out planting sunflowers. Again I have no idea as to the validity but it brought people together, made us feel like we were doing something constructive. The city around 2km south of mine was evacuated but my city was deemed ok, go figure.

 

[Allison Finch]

Could the windblown dust have been a danger when inhaled? That might explain advising closed windows.

 

[Alfawolfje]

I agree that the geiger counters in the sand is nonsense used to stir up the emotions. My complaint is people thinking that just because it happened somewhere else it is not a problem. It is a problem to deactivate broken fuel rods that are in a twisted pile. It is a problem that in addition to all the sea water used to cool the reactors, the natural groundwater is getting contaminated as it flows through the ground around the reactors on it's way to the sea. It is a problem that it is more important to "save face" by covering up the seriousness than it is to ask for the worlds help containing the problem. The upcoming Olympics are more important, at least based on how much attention and money is being allocated.

Tokyo is Already Preparing for a Disaster at the 2020 Olympics ? Next City

Seawater is not being used to cool the reactors. Please state that source. Please stop your disinformation!

Only right after the loss of electricity and generators, as an last ditch effort, sea water was being dumped into the reactors (including the use of helicopters for that). Just to prevent a core meltdown.
Since salt water is highly corrosive and will cause damage, they stopped doing this a long time ago.

Also sea water as a source does not mean it has to go back into the ocean. The groundwater is the least of concerns, as there have been all kind of leaks of different nature in storage tanks. Old news. They never covered up these facts. The only people that got upset were the LOCAL fisherman as they were trying to proof their products were safe. And food does get tested and usually comes back as ND (non-detectable as in too low to detect). Of course there are exception and two years, this was a whole other discussion. I was pretty wary about food from that reason back then as I should have been.

There are so much reported and unreported chemical spills and accidents at nuclear waste facilities all around the world, probably a lot closer to home for you. Why are you obsessing and focussing about Fukushima solely? Sure, it made for some great headlines and it is a serious concern.... But again, if we are talking health and risks in life, is the radiation from Fukushima impacting us in Tokyo. No. Why should you be concerned? You don't live in Japan? Do you?

Driving your car will probably get you killed sooner then anything else.... Have a good look at personal risk and please drop it. The OP question has been answered and we are beating a dead horse here.

 

[Storker]

Could the windblown dust have been a danger when inhaled? That might explain advising closed windows.

Yes, fallout could have been an issue during the accident. Radiation doesn't magically appear out of nowhere, it comes from radioactive matter. Airborne dust or aerosols containing radioactive material can definitely be an issue during a meltdown. Look at what happened when Chernobyl blew up. The burning graphite core created an updraft pulling radioactive material into the air. Due to the weather conditions, a lot of that material traveled all the way to central Sweden and Norway before it rained down, causing years of problems for reindeer and sheep farmers in those areas. Now, if the winds and the weather had been different, the same fallout could have caused problems for Poles, Finns or Austrians instead.

Long story short: If a nuclear reactor blows up fairly close to you, closing the windows and staying inside is a good idea until you know that the fallout is heading somewhere else than your back yard

--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[lionfish-eater]

I don't have to live in Japan to be concerned, I live on the same planet. One small world.
Fukushima Ocean Radiation to hit West Coast in 7 days

Neither NOAA nor EPA are doing any monitoring at all.

http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/fukushima-disaster-radiation-children-740/

 

[TMHeimer]

To the OP-- I would imagine people are still swimming in Hawaii. I would think they would be more at risk than divers. In fact, how would there be any risk at all to divers breathing from tanks? Maybe radiation on the skin if no wetsuit?

 

[Alfawolfje]

Fukushima is leaking 0.3 terabecquerels (TBq) of radioactive material per month.
Compare this to the already present 100,000 TBq of caesium-137 from H-bomb testing in the 1960s. (Who do we have to thank for that?)

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article...tive-water-be-dumped-at-sea.html#.U1cknu0azCQ

(Quote) Buesseler says that during his own sampling survey in waters 30 to 600 kilometres from Fukushima in June 2011, three months after the meltdown, the highest levels he found were 3 Bq of caesium-137 per litre of seawater. By comparison, the natural weathering of rocks results in about 10 Bq of radioactive potassium-40 making it into each litre of seawater.

On an international level, even if all the waste from Fukushima was dumped neat into the Pacific, dilution would eliminate any radiation risks to distant countries like the US, says Simon Boxall of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK. (/quote)

There are hundreds of divers and swimmers, including me, in the areas around Tokyo without any concerns.

---------- Post added April 23rd, 2014 at 11:40 AM ----------

I don't have to live in Japan to be concerned, I live on the same planet. One small world.
Fukushima Ocean Radiation to hit West Coast in 7 days

Neither NOAA nor EPA are doing any monitoring at all.

http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/fukushima-disaster-radiation-children-740/

Complete fearmongering! "According to scientists"? Who? Names?
"Radiation will..." How much? Numbers?
It's just a sensationalist piece to provoke emotions on people without any facts and figures. For a properly quoted article with numbers and data in it, please refer to my precious post. Again, main media wants to sell headlines and doesn't inform you. Choose your sources and quotes wisely instead of just being emotional. Look at actually numbers and facts and state those with credible sources please.