RE: Fukushima still a Threat to Humanity?
November 5, 2013 at 12:09 pm
(This post was last modified: November 5, 2013 at 12:26 pm by Creed of Heresy.)
It's still got radiation that spewed into the atmosphere, and into the ocean and has reached the west coast, but honestly, we get exposed to radiation all the damn time. Not to mention, the human body is actually reasonably tolerant of exposure to radiation. Hell, our own bodies give it off to a small extent.
As you can see, absorbing this "catastrophic" amount of radiation that is being given off is all but harmless. 1 sievert all at once is when you will begin to experience radiation sickness; at 5, you will die. I stress; all at once. The Fukushima radiation exposure was clocked in at 3.6 microsieverts 50 miles NW of the stricken plant. That said, many other sites tested saw barely any elevation whatsoever.
So, as you can see, anyone whining and screaming about this whole thing being a colossal health hazard/disaster/pandemic/whateverthefuck are a bunch of fear-stricken panicking idiots, and that goes for anyone on this site, too.
And another reason why we really shouldn’t worry about it all that much. The radiation that fossil fuel plants spew into the environment each year is around 0.1 EBq. That’s ExaBecquerel, or 10 to the power of 18. Fukushima is pumping out 10 trillion becquerels a year at present. Or 10 TBq, or 10 of 10 to the power of 12. Or, if you prefer, one ten thousandth of the amount that the world’s coal plants are doing. Or even, given that there are only about 2,500 coal plants in the world, Fukushima is, in this disaster, pumping out around one quarter of the radiation that a coal plant does in normal operation.
So. Yeah. It's never been a threat to humanity, despite what all the morons think. It was only a threat when it was initially giving off so much radiation in close vicinity. It's the high-yield burst from the most rapidly-decaying radiation that is the most lethal. The stuff with much longer half-lives isn't NEARLY as dangerous. There's a reason why the area around Chernobyl is thriving with wildlife despite the lingering radiation; it just isn't all that harmful in the distance anymore. Nearby, of course, where there's just so damn much of the stuff, it's all concentrated. However, the material that is concentrated in Fukushima is secure.
You mean near the water-holding tanks for the contaminated coolant water? Not necessarily out in the open, but you pretty much nailed it either way. 2,200 microsieverts per hour, I believe, was the reading.
So small, in fact, it's not even worth mentioning. Honestly, the plant would have to have an outright catastrophic meltdown, a total failure of its systems, to really pose any significant global hazard at all. Friggin' Chernobyl didn't have that much of a globally significant impact; somewhere to the tune of the highly-exposed individuals (106) from near the site of the disaster saw only 11 deaths within a 15-year time span. Anyone further out? Yeah, somehow I don't really see that having affected them all that much, and I don't see Fukushima becoming Chernobyl 2.0 given that, while damaged, we're not exactly looking at a poorly-managed nuclear plant with underfunded safety checks, unmaintained safety systems, and without redundancies for their systems...all of which were problems that the Chernobyl plant suffered from.
Still. I would rather they just build another that isn't sitting on the damn coastline or something, that has more safety systems, say one of the more modern designs for example, decommission the entire facility, and lock its components into secure storage facilities to live out its thousand-year half-life without affecting anyone or anything.
In conclusion: Unless you're within 25 kilometers of the plant, you've never been at any significant health risk because of this "catastrophe." It's never been a threat, and it still isn't, and if you're really so scared of it, go and live in the woods and drink only boiled water and kill your own food and take only homeopathic remedies and also wear tinfoil hats.
Meanwhile I'll reserve my stress for more important matters. Like not having enough weed. Or stubbing my toe.
As you can see, absorbing this "catastrophic" amount of radiation that is being given off is all but harmless. 1 sievert all at once is when you will begin to experience radiation sickness; at 5, you will die. I stress; all at once. The Fukushima radiation exposure was clocked in at 3.6 microsieverts 50 miles NW of the stricken plant. That said, many other sites tested saw barely any elevation whatsoever.
So, as you can see, anyone whining and screaming about this whole thing being a colossal health hazard/disaster/pandemic/whateverthefuck are a bunch of fear-stricken panicking idiots, and that goes for anyone on this site, too.
And another reason why we really shouldn’t worry about it all that much. The radiation that fossil fuel plants spew into the environment each year is around 0.1 EBq. That’s ExaBecquerel, or 10 to the power of 18. Fukushima is pumping out 10 trillion becquerels a year at present. Or 10 TBq, or 10 of 10 to the power of 12. Or, if you prefer, one ten thousandth of the amount that the world’s coal plants are doing. Or even, given that there are only about 2,500 coal plants in the world, Fukushima is, in this disaster, pumping out around one quarter of the radiation that a coal plant does in normal operation.
So. Yeah. It's never been a threat to humanity, despite what all the morons think. It was only a threat when it was initially giving off so much radiation in close vicinity. It's the high-yield burst from the most rapidly-decaying radiation that is the most lethal. The stuff with much longer half-lives isn't NEARLY as dangerous. There's a reason why the area around Chernobyl is thriving with wildlife despite the lingering radiation; it just isn't all that harmful in the distance anymore. Nearby, of course, where there's just so damn much of the stuff, it's all concentrated. However, the material that is concentrated in Fukushima is secure.
(November 5, 2013 at 11:53 am)Chuck Wrote: Locally very bad. There are still places out in the open at Fukushima site where the ambient radiation will kill you in less than 4 hours.
You mean near the water-holding tanks for the contaminated coolant water? Not necessarily out in the open, but you pretty much nailed it either way. 2,200 microsieverts per hour, I believe, was the reading.
Quote:Globally not significant at present. The amount being released into wider atmosphere or sea water is very small. But chance of a major accidental release of radiation into the wider atmosphere and sea water in the future is however still much higher than in an normal undamaged nuclear power plant.
So small, in fact, it's not even worth mentioning. Honestly, the plant would have to have an outright catastrophic meltdown, a total failure of its systems, to really pose any significant global hazard at all. Friggin' Chernobyl didn't have that much of a globally significant impact; somewhere to the tune of the highly-exposed individuals (106) from near the site of the disaster saw only 11 deaths within a 15-year time span. Anyone further out? Yeah, somehow I don't really see that having affected them all that much, and I don't see Fukushima becoming Chernobyl 2.0 given that, while damaged, we're not exactly looking at a poorly-managed nuclear plant with underfunded safety checks, unmaintained safety systems, and without redundancies for their systems...all of which were problems that the Chernobyl plant suffered from.
Still. I would rather they just build another that isn't sitting on the damn coastline or something, that has more safety systems, say one of the more modern designs for example, decommission the entire facility, and lock its components into secure storage facilities to live out its thousand-year half-life without affecting anyone or anything.
In conclusion: Unless you're within 25 kilometers of the plant, you've never been at any significant health risk because of this "catastrophe." It's never been a threat, and it still isn't, and if you're really so scared of it, go and live in the woods and drink only boiled water and kill your own food and take only homeopathic remedies and also wear tinfoil hats.
Meanwhile I'll reserve my stress for more important matters. Like not having enough weed. Or stubbing my toe.
