Radiation leaks from Fukushima now “harmful” ["levels of up to 400 units of radiation an hour"]

Euro News ^ | 15/ 03 /11

[GonzoII]

The government in Japan says radiation from the quake-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant has now reached harmful levels.

Four reactors at the plant have now exploded.

It’s now thought one of the reactor’s containment systems has also been damaged, raising fears of further and more serious radiation leaks.

The UN’s weather agency says the current conditions are dispersing the radioactive particles out over the ocean, and there is no risk to the people.

The World Health Organisation says by extending the exclusion zone, Japan is taking all the right precautions.

The plant’s operators, Tokyo Electric, say they have asked the US military for help.

Experts say levels of up to 400 units of radiation an hour have been recorded at the site. Exposure to anything over 100 units a year is thought to be harmful.

Copyright © 2011 euronews

[GonzoII]

"400 Units of Radiation an Hour"

Okay, somebody shool me ....???

[T. P. Pole]

Okay, somebody shool me ....???

Oh, this is easy. (In chicken little voice) - The world is ending, everyone in California is going to die, and even if they don't, nobody will buy their wine anymore.

[cripplecreek]

It sounds like they’re talking about actual radiant energy which is a whole different animal than fallout. Basically if you aren’t standing there looking at the reactor you’re fine.

Sunlight is a good example of radiant energy.

[GonzoGOP]

The rate quoted last night was 400 millisieverts per hour when right next to reactor #2. That amount of radiation will make you seriously ill after about two and a half hours. However it was for the moment localized. The front gate was only getting 3 millisieverts. That still isn't good and would make you seriously ill after a few weeks of exposure. They are going to have to rotate crews and one control room now can only be entered for a few seconds at a time. Running out of skilled personnel as more and more of their people hit their annual radiation dose and have to stay away from the plant for the foreseeable future.

[T. P. Pole]

Or is this based on the Banana Equivalent Dose standard?

[silverleaf]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366308/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-Meltdown-3rd-reactor-blast-hits-nuclear-plant.html

seems like a pretty comprehensive report

includes discussion of measurement terms (millisieverts)
and effects of radiation exposure

the people most in danger are those still working at the plants- they are real heroes

[RummyChick]

Here is the info reported last night.

Between #2 and #3 reactors - 30 millisieverts

#3 - 400 millisieverts

#4 - 100 millisieverts.

#3 has the MOX fuel.

#2 has the admitted defect in the containment vessel.

#4 has the spent rods in a pool where there was a fire.

[GonzoII]

Thanks for the link.

[RummyChick]

Oh and let me add,,,there is a mysterious amount of info NOT being reported about Reactor #2. For example, they left out the readings around #2. Just the area between 2 and 3.

[Georgia Girl 2]

If you think I’m taking my tin foil hat off you’re nuts.

[GonzoII]

Thanks for that input.

[broken_arrow1]

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!...seriously, what problem?

[AppyPappy]

Exactly, the Japanese are not known for their compassion towards non-Japanese. They are more interested in not “losing face” than you losing your life.

[HamiltonJay]

Okay, so now we have what appears to be a containment breach.

Now it is time to wonder what to do.

[bunkerhill7]

300 plus rems will kill you if you are a few feet close to the radioactive object=-

I received 300 rems or more for 4 hours from radioactive objects on the ground, got skin and bone cancer on my left side leg but survived.

[Matchett-PI]

LOL! Love it!

[PeteCat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_poisoning

400 mS (milliSievert = 1/1000Sievert) per hour. What is often left out is the necessity of specifying the time interval needed for this amount to accumulate. They sometimes use microS where micro = 1/1000 of a milli.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert
Sometimes they misspeak as to the radiation amount by a factor of 1000 or 1,000,000.

The type of radiation is also a major factor in addition to rate of exposure over a specific interval.

[PapaBear3625]

It would be nice if they mention 400 of WHAT units.

OK, most likely it's 400 milli-Sieverts per hour, at least that's what the Christian Science Monitor reports (although they talk about micro-Sieverts.

400 mSv/hr is a big deal. Above 100 mSv/year you run risks of cancer. When you get more than 250 mSv in a day,you start getting symptoms of radiation poisoning, with over 3,000 mSv (7.5 hours exposure) being a lethal dose.

[ScubieNuc]

Nuclear power has many different nomiclatures for their measurements of radiation. For me, it’s easier to understand REM or radiation equivalent man.
1 millisievert =.1 REM.
Therefore 400 ms =40 Rem.

Here is the Rem dose guide line:

25-100 Rem...some sickness, not disabling
100-200 Rem...nausea, vomiting, 1% reduction in life expectancy
200-300 Rem....probable recovery in 3 months
300-600 Rem...Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea in first few hours. After a latent period of a week, loss of hair, malaise, fever, progressing to hemorrhage and emaciation in the third week. At about 500 rems, 50% die in 2 to 6 weeks.

> 600 Rem...Almost all those exposed die within weeks.

I wish the news or the industry was more clear on what these terms meant and didn’t use the ambiguous term “meltdown”. It just creates more confusion and panic.

[Scythian]

No Honey, everything is fine, no need to take our Potassium Iodide tablets, there's these guys that have been on the FreeRepublic saying everything is just fine, they even make fun of others for being concerned about it. According to them Nuclear power is perfectly safe and liberals are stupid for not wanting them in their back yards. Let's wait another day before we take them...

/sarcasm (well half) ...