he discusses the high levels of radiation (2 Million disintegrations/second being found on the ground as far as 25 miles from the plant site.)
That’s about 54 mSV isn’t it? If that is true, that is VERY high! You would experience radiation sickness in less than 24 hours of exposure?
I used to work in radiological controls for the U.S. Navy. 2 million dps is not a measure of radiation levels, it’s not even an accurate measure of radioactive contamination, without an associated surface area. One Curie (Ci) is 37 billion dps, so we’re talking about 2*10E+6/37*10E+9 = 54 uCi. But there is no mention of surface area, 54 uCi/?, m^2? Let’s assume 54 uCi/m^2*(1*10E+6 pCi/uCi)*(1 cpm/450 pCi/m^2) = 120,000 cpm, or 1,200X normal background. There is no easy conversion from cpm to dose rate, but using an average rule-of-thumb, 1,000 cpm/mRem/h, we have a dose rate of 120 mRem/h. Now 1 mSv/h = 100 mRem/h, so we have 1.2 mSv/h. In 24-h, whole body exposure would be 2.4 Rem, it takes 100 Rem for the onset of radiation sickness. I would extend the exclusion zone for civilians back to dose rates below 1 mRem/h (10 uSv/h). A dose rate of 120 mRem/h is not low but it’s not life threatening either.
“One Curie (Ci) is 37 billion dps, so we’re talking about 2*10E+6/37*10E+9 = 54 uCi. But there is no mention of surface area, 54 uCi/?, m^2?”
My guess is that 2 millions dps is a peak value. If that’s the case, then my estimated dose rate of 120 mRem/h is way too high. I’m assuming 54 uCi/m^2. If the 54 uCi is a peak measurement, that’s the highest surface contamination found 25 miles away, as measured directly over the detector. Then the average dose rate in the area is most likely very low, <1mRem/h. Sounds like an exaggeration to scare people, typical hype in the media.
If you listen to the video, he mentions 2 million becquerels. I'm pretty sure we're taking a surface area of a square meter.
You were doing well untill you start jumping from sieverts to rems and back about 3 times :). I'd like to back you up a bit:
we have a dose rate of 120 mRem/h. Now 1 mSv/h = 100 mRem/h, so we have 1.2 mSv/h.
So by your calculations of 1.2 mSV/h, @ 24 hours you would receive 28.8 mSV total. That's a little more than half of what I came up with in a single hour? Dosage in mSV is something most people now have an understanding of.
Even using your much lower level than mine, you would absorb 1000 mSV (radiation sickness levels) in 34 days. That's if radiation from the plant immediately stopped and no additional radioactive particles landed.