6 WORKERS EXPOSED TO EXCESSIVE RADIATION @ FUKUSHIMA PLANT

Kyodo News ^ | 19 Mar 2011 | Something2ThnkAbout

[Somethng2ThnkAbout]

6 WORKERS EXPOSED TO EXCESSIVE RADIATION @ FUKUSHIMA PLANT TOKYO, March 19, Kyodo

Six workers at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been exposed to radiation levels beyond the limit applied to an emergency operation, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday, without elaborating on the work that they were engaged in.

They are continuing to work on different tasks because they have not shown any abnormal signs since being exposed to over 100 millisieverts of radiation, the utility said. The limit has been raised to 250 millisieverts for the ongoing crisis, the worst in Japan's history, by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

The government's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said separately that readings of up to 27 millisieverts of radiation were detected as of noon on around 50 employees of the Tokyo Fire Department who were decontaminated after spraying water earlier in the day at the plant's highly dangerous No. 3 reactor.

[dynoman]

Up until now I read about one worker at Fukushima with a 100 m/sv exposure.

” - The radiation exposure of 1 TEPCO employee, who was working inside the reactor building, exceeded 100mSv and he was transported to the hospital.”


In morning hours after Chernobyl 134 workers received an exposure of 0.8-16 Gy which is 800-16000 m/sv ( 1Gy = 1Sv, 1Sv = 1000 m/Sv)

What this means is 134 workers in the first few hours at Chernobyl recieved 800m/Sv-16000m/sv. That stands in very stark contrast to the one Fukushima worker who recieved 100 m/sv.

For more perspective on radiation exposure; Symptom Benchmarks and Dose Examples

[xjcsa]

A typical radiation dose is 2-3 millisieverts PER YEAR.

True. Airline pilots typically receive 20-50 millisieverts per year, though, without significant adverse effects.

[xjcsa]

Such heros beyond measure ... tragic, tragic, tragic ...

A 1% increase in the likelihood that they'll get cancer someday is tragic? Okay, but then what word do you use for the tens of thousands killed directly by the earthquake and tsunami?

[Freddd]

Yet.

[xjcsa]

Yet.

Well, we have a good 50 years of data from the modern jet age; at what point do we decide it's no big deal?

[mewykwistmas]

“True. Airline pilots typically receive 20-50 millisieverts per year, though, without significant adverse effects.”

I wonder how their cancer rates are as they get older. In the Japan plant they chose older volunteers. Apparently cancer from radiation takes decades to develop so they will probably die from other natural causes first.

[TXnMA]

You got the "again" right...

[Lucas McCain]

“Yes, unfortunately, we’re seeing the worst carp scenario.”

Oh, no! Not the dreaded worst carp scenario! This is hugh and series.

[americanophile]

Heroes indeed.

[flintsilver7]

For a nuclear plant worker, their doses are limited to on average 5 rads per year. This is 50 mSv, which is a far cry from 2-3.

For reference, people living in the town of Ramsar, Iran can receive an annual dose of 250 mSv or more from natural sources.

[Freddd]

The individual dose limit for radiation workers averaged over 5 YEARS is 100 mSv, and for members of the general public, is 1 mSv per year. These dose limits have been established based on a prudent approach by assuming that there is no threshold dose below which there would be no effect.

From the IAEA

[buzzer]

100 Rad = 1 Gy
1 Gy = 1 J/kg
1 Sv = 1 J/kg * w (w is radiation type scaling for alpha/beta/gamma high/low energy particle/wave)

So for gamma ray w is 1. Milli is 1/1000th
100 Rad = 1 Gy = 1 Sv * 1
1 millisievert of gamma ray is 0.1 Rad

[Wonder Warthog]

"These dose limits have been established based on a prudent approach by assuming that there is no threshold dose below which there would be no effect."

"Assumed". That is the crux. No known science validates that "assumption", which is wholly an invention of anti-nuclear zealots. The REAL science indicates that there are levels of radiation exposure which are actually beneficial. See "radiation hormesis". But don't let FACTS get in the way of your panic trolling.

[hattend]

Thanks!

[Freddd]

Assumed”. That is the crux. No known science validates that “assumption—

So maybe the stats you posted about airline pilots aren’t correct?

[flintsilver7]

The majority of nuclear plant workers do not actually receive any dose. I'm sure you know this, what with your intricate knowledge of all things radioactive. I am, of course, being sarcastic, as it is obvious that you are simply reading something online without actually understanding it. Here, let me educate you:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/bio-effects-radiation.pdf

"The pie chart on the following page shows a breakdown of radiation sources that contribute to the average annual U.S. radiation dose of 620 mrem.

Note that the average annual dose in the United States is 6.2 mSv per year. Holy crap, how are we all alive? The NRC further limits additional exposure to 1 mSv per year. This is not total dose, as you might understand. As I said earlier, people in Denver are exposed to 10 mSv of background radiation per year, while people in Ramsar, Iran can be exposed to as much as 250 mSv per year. "...and limit occupational radiation exposure to adults working with radioactive material to 5,000 mrem (50 mSv) per year."

The NRC limits exposure to 5 rads per year. Most countries limit exposure to 2 rads per year with a limit of 5 rads in any one year. The peak reading at Fukushima Daiichi was a brief spike of 400 mSv (40 rads) with six workers apparently receiving doses over 100 mSv (10 rads).

"Approximately 134 plant workers and firefighters battling the fire at the Chernobyl power plant received high radiation doses – 80,000 to 1,600,000 mrem (800 to 16,000 mSv) – and suffered from acute radiation sickness. Of these, 28 died within the first three months from their radiation injuries. Two more patients died during the first days as a result of combined injuries from the fire and radiation."

This speaks for itself. People at Chernobyl received doses between 80 rads and as much as 1,600 rads, with more than 80% of them surviving. Logic dictates that those 80% were on the low end; it is unlikely that somebody receiving a dose of 1,600 rads would live more than a few days. (People at Chernobyl threw caution to the wind, possibly in a heroic gesture to try and limit the damage. Maybe they simply didn't understand how things worked. My father, a retired nuclear engineer, told me that workers in Chernobyl simply carried spent fuel (like you might carry a sack of rice) to pits before they were ultimately buried. It is highly likely they died from radiation poisoning. Parts of Chernobyl had radiation levels of 300,000 mSv per hour. The total death toll to this day attributed to radiation from that incident is around 50.

In 1964, Robert Peabody, a worker at a United Nuclear Corporation plant in Charlestown, Rhode Island accidentally exposed himself to approximately 10,000 rads. Shortly after, two other people were exposed to 100 rads (1,000 mSv) and suffered no ill effects whatsoever. In contrast, workers at Fukushima Daiichi were exposed to just over 10 rads. Further, I suggest you actually read about what constitutes radiation poisoning.

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

Note that in small doses, radiation is actually beneficial. It is my educated hypothesis that those workers who were "exposed" at Fukushima Daiichi will have no ill effects whatsoever from the radiation and the only long-term effects they will see is an extremely low rise in the probability of cancer (less than 1%). What you are doing here is incredibly dishonest and misinformed, though I do believe you simply don't know what you're talking about rather than actually intentionally spreading false information.

[Freddd]

Well then I guess weren’t were talking about the ‘majority’.

I don’t want anymore of your ‘educate me’ series...it’s not needed.

[DB]

Frankley, it is getting difficult to believe TEPCO. Their credibility is running a little thin these days. They seem to pick and choose what information they release.

[LurkedLongEnough]

exposed to over 100 millisieverts of radiation

Notice they didn't specify HOW MUCH OVER 100 millisieverts.

[cookcounty]

"They are continuing to work on different tasks because they have not shown any abnormal signs since being exposed to over 100 millisieverts of radiation, the utility said."

"100 millisieverts is the lowest level of radiation exposure at which a statistically significant increase in the incidence of cancer is discernable."

"Ten times that - 1,000 millisieverts - increases the incidence of cancer by five percent. Fifty times that - 5,000 millisieverts - has a 50% fatality rate over a period of one month.

"So while 100 millisieverts is not exactly trivial, it's not like these guys are likely to die of it, or even get sick.

Thanks for bringing some rationality to all this fear mongering. Are a handful of people in danger? Yes. Are they courageous? Yes. Is this a bigger deal than the Chilean miners' deal? Probably not.