Japan's Nuclear Problem Rating Equivalent to Chernobyl

[Kathianne]

Of all things to be wrong about, I wish this hadn't been one of mine.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42547992/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

They raised the alert to highest, a bit of good news:


...'Nowhere near' Chernobyl
A level 7 incident means a major release of radiation with a widespread health and environmental impact, while a 5 level is a limited release of radioactive material, with several deaths, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Several experts said the new rating exaggerated the severity of the crisis, and that the Chernobyl disaster was far worse.

"It's nowhere near that level. Chernobyl was terrible — it blew and they had no containment, and they were stuck," said nuclear industry specialist Murray Jennex, an associate professor at San Diego State University in California.

"Their (Japan's) containment has been holding, the only thing that hasn't is the fuel pool that caught fire." ...

[Cracker]

The situation is bad, but not comparable to Chernobyl.

[Kathianne]

The situation is bad, but not comparable to Chernobyl.

Pretty much what I said, but the ratings the same. Not good news for nuclear power industry or the people living around that area.

[Nukeman]

Heres the deal when you ONLY have 7 levels to measure something by than eventually everything will reach that level if bad enough.

Think of it like hurricanes.. A cat 5 storm is sustained winds of 150 mph now if they reach 250 mph it is still a cat 5 storm. obviously one is much more dangerous than the other but they are still listed as the same...

I find it funny that they measure the activity in Becquerel's and not milicuries after all most radiation is measured by mCi it takes 37 MBq to equal 1 mCi

To put this in perspective the radiation released to date in Japan is 672 terabecquerel (TBq) that is = to 18,162 Curies. Now on any given day a nuclear pharmacy has 15-50 Curies each in its inventory to use for medical purposes.. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it when you say only 18 thousand curies have been released instead of 672 TBq. Sounds like a whole lot more doesn't it!?!?!?!? However the amount released by Chernobyl is estimated between 51 MILLION and 300 Million Curies that is = to 2-11 million TBq

Just my 2 cents worth take as you will. This is NO WHERE near as sever as Chernobyl

[revelarts]

Hey Sitting here working listening to this.

I posted the IAEA Chernobyl report here somewhere on the board, this puts the that's study in a different light.

Interesting.

<embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKtwkQC" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>

[jimnyc]

Deleted dup post, the same can be found here:

http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?30935-How-many-nuke-plant-disasters-would-be-needed-to-equal-deaths-from-coal-oil-etc.&p=466994#post466994

[revelarts]

http://www.propublica.org/article/six-ways-fukushima-is-not-chernobyl
Six Ways Fukushima is Not Chernobyl
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http://cryptogon.com/?p=21594

FUKUSHIMA: 1,000 MILLISIEVERTS PER HOUR IN THE AIR INSIDE THE PIT OF REACTOR TWO
April 3rd, 2011

Update: Japanese Turn to Paper and Sawdust to Plug Fukushima Nuclear Leak [???]

Via: Guardian:

Where concrete has failed to prevent highly radioactive water pouring into the sea, workers at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have shifted hope of plugging the leaks to an absorbent polymer mixed with sawdust and shredded newspaper that expands 50-fold when in contact with water.

Although officials conceded the polymer had made little impact so far, they will wait until Monday before deciding whether to abandon it. “We were hoping the polymers would function like diapers, but we have yet to see a visible effect,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for Japan’s nuclear safety agency.

Officials separately has warned that the nuclear crisis could drag on for months, the first time that they have offered a timescale. Goshi Hosono, an aide to the prime minister, Naoto Kan, said everything possible was being done to contain leaks, which have contaminated the environment and food and water supplies, necessitated mass evacuations, and fomented fear as far away as Tokyo, 150 miles to the south.

—End Update—

I’ve become very hesitant to post any information that originates from the criminals at TEPCO, but this number (1,000 mSv/hour) has remained standing for over a day now.

According to the IAEA, the limit for public radiation exposure is 1 mSv per year:

The dose limits for practices are intended to ensure that no individual is committed to unacceptable risk due to radiation exposure. For the public the limit is 1 mSv in a year, or in special circumstances up to 5 mSv in a single year provided that the average does over five consecutive years does not exceed 1 mSv per year.

At Fukushima, they’re dealing with 1,000 mSv/hour.

Via: Reuters:

Japanese officials grappling on Sunday to end the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl were focussing on a crack in a concrete pit that was leaking radiation into the ocean from a crippled reactor.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had found a crack in the pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima, generating readings 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside the pit.

“With radiation levels rising in the seawater near the plant, we have been trying to confirm the reason why, and in that context, this could be one source,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said on Saturday.

He cautioned, however: “We can’t really say for certain until we’ve studied the results.”

Leakage did not stop even after concrete was poured into the pit, and Tokyo Electric is now planning to use water-absorbent polymer to prevent contaminated water from leaking out into the sea.

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WIKIPEDIA
take it or leave it
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Sievert#Dose_examples


Single dose examples

* Dental radiography: 0.005 mSv[3]
* Average dose to people living within 16 km of Three Mile Island accident: 0.08 mSv during the accident[4]
* Mammogram: 3 mSv[3]
* Brain CT scan: 0.8–5 mSv[5]
* Chest CT scan: 6–18 mSv[5]
* Gastrointestinal series X-ray investigation: 14 mSv[6]
* International Commission on Radiological Protection recommended limit for volunteers averting major nuclear escalation: 500 mSv[7]
* International Commission on Radiological Protection recommended limit for volunteers rescuing lives or preventing serious injuries: 1000 mSv[7]

[edit] Hourly dose examples

* Average individual background radiation dose: 0.23μSv/h (0.00023mSv/h); 0.17μSv/h for Australians, 0.34μSv/h for Americans[8][4][9]
* Highest reported level during Fukushima accident: 1000 mSv/h reported as the level at a pool of water in the turbine room of reactor two.[10][11][12]

[edit] Yearly dose examples

* Maximum acceptable dose for the public from any man made facility: 1 mSv/year[13]
* Dose from living near a nuclear power station: 0.0001–0.01 mSv/year[6][8]
* Dose from living near a coal-fired power station: 0.0003 mSv/year[8]
* Dose from sleeping next to a human for 8 hours every night: 0.02 mSv/yr[8]
* Dose from cosmic radiation (from sky) at sea level: 0.24 mSv/year[6]
* Dose from terrestrial radiation (from ground): 0.28 mSv/year[6]
* Dose from natural radiation in the human body: 0.40 mSv/year[6]
* Dose from standing in front of the granite of the United States Capitol building: 0.85 mSv/year[14]
* Average individual background radiation dose: 2 mSv/year; 1.5 mSv/year for Australians, 3.0 mSv/year for Americans[8][4][9]
* Dose from atmospheric sources (mostly radon): 2 mSv/year[6][15]
* Total average radiation dose for Americans: 6.2 mSv/year[16]
* New York-Tokyo flights for airline crew: 9 mSv/year[9]
* Dose from smoking 30 cigarettes a day: 13-60 mSv/year[14][15]
* Current average dose limit for nuclear workers: 20 mSv/year[9]
* Dose from background radiation in parts of Iran, India and Europe: 50 mSv/year[9]
* Dose limit applied to workers during Fukushima emergency: 250 mSv/year[17]

[edit] Dose limit examples

* Criterion for relocation after Chernobyl disaster: 350 mSv/lifetime[9]
* In most countries the current maximum permissible dose to radiation workers is 20 mSv per year averaged over five years, with a maximum of 50 mSv in any one year. This is over and above background exposure, and excludes medical exposure. The value originates from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and is coupled with the requirement to keep exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) – taking into account social and economic factors.[18]
* Public dose limits for exposure from uranium mining or nuclear plants are usually set at 1 mSv/yr above background.[18]

[edit] Symptom benchmarks

Symptoms of acute radiation (dose received within one day):[19]

* 0 – 0.25 Sv (0 – 250 mSv): None
* 0.25 – 1 Sv (250 – 1000 mSv): Some people feel nausea and loss of appetite; bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen damaged.
* 1 – 3 Sv (1000 – 3000 mSv): Mild to severe nausea, loss of appetite, infection; more severe bone marrow, lymph node, spleen damage; recovery probable, not assured.
* 3 – 6 Sv (3000 – 6000 mSv): Severe nausea, loss of appetite; hemorrhaging, infection, diarrhea, peeling of skin, sterility; death if untreated.
* 6 – 10 Sv (6000 – 10000 mSv): Above symptoms plus central nervous system impairment; death expected.
* Above 10 Sv (10000 mSv): Incapacitation and death.

See also Radiation poisoning.
[edit]

[revelarts]

Deleted dup post, the same can be found here:

http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?30935-How-many-nuke-plant-disasters-would-be-needed-to-equal-deaths-from-coal-oil-etc.&p=466994#post466994

Jim could you delete the post over there and post it here instead.
Thanks :salute:

[revelarts]

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/radiation-in-water-table-near-reactor-1.1094024


Radiation in water table near reactor

1 Apr 2011

Officials at the Fukushima nuclear plant said radiation exceeding government safety limits has seeped into groundwater, but has not affected drinking supplies.

But the leak could pose a long-term problem and at the very least it is a concerning indicator of how far Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) is from bringing its plant under control.

Workers have been battling to stabilise overheating reactors after cooling systems were knocked out by the tsunami on March 11.

Tepco has increasingly asked for international help in its battle, most recently ordering pumps from the US that were to arrive later this month to spray water on the reactors.

The groundwater contamination – 10,000 times higher than the government standard for the plant – is the latest setback at the plant, where leaks have already contaminated food and hindered workers’ ability to bring the plant under control.

Iodine-131, a radioactive substance that decays quickly, was found nearly 50ft below one of the reactors, according to Tepco spokesman Naoyuki Matsumo.

While the contamination does not appear to have caused an immediate problem, there are two ways it could eventually affect drinking water if concentrations were high enough.

One is if it were to seep into wells in the area, and residents have been moved from a 12-mile radius around the plant as a precaution.

The other concern is whether contaminated water from the plant could seep into underground waterways and eventually into rivers.
....

http://dawnwires.com/politics/groundwater-table-highly-polluted-by-radiation/


Japan may fast be reaching a point of inhabitable as groundwater tables are now polluted by radiation. More signs of serious radiation contamination in and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were detected Thursday, with the latest data finding groundwater containing radioactive iodine 10,000 times the legal threshold and the concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in nearby seawater rising to the highest level yet.

Radioactive material was confirmed from groundwater for the first time since the March 11 quake and tsunami hit the nuclear power plant on the Pacific coast, knocking out the reactors’ key cooling functions. An official of the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, ”We’re aware this is an extremely high figure.”

The contaminated groundwater was found from around the No. 1 reactor’s turbine building, although the radiation level of groundwater is usually so low that it cannot be measured.

Japanese authorities were also urged to consider taking action over radioactive contamination outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the plant, as the International Atomic Energy Agency said readings from soil samples collected in the village of Iitate, about 40 km from the plant, exceeded its criteria for evacuation....

[revelarts]

Nuke How Accurate is this video?
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[Nukeman]

Dude!!!

Its a VERY severe problem but,, don't let the media trump it higher than it needs to be. Please read my post above. They are are using international standards of measurements when it suits them. they are using the tables that "seem" to give higher doses or contamination than is really there.

This is NO WHERE close to Cherenobyl!! Could it be?? possibely?!?!!? is it NO. Give them time to seal the breaches.

You also need to understand that during normal operation the INSIDE of thereactor is almost at those levels. The radioactive material is not "growing" in there it is what was there prior to the catastrophe and that is what theyare attempting to contain.. The way the media is projecting this it reports like more and more radiation is spontaniously coming into being!!!!! If that were the case nuclear energy would last forever without ever having to replace the fuel rods!!!!

[Kathianne]

Jim could you delete the post over there and post it here instead.
Thanks :salute:

Done.

[revelarts]

Done.

:salute: Thanks Kath! :salute: