Fukushima still a Threat to Humanity?

[Cato]

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.

This is the article that I found with the 4 hour lethal data.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/...lear-plant

TEPCO is reporting 1800mSv (millisieverts) at the joints of some of the tanks holding contaminated water. This certainly isn't good, but I want to give some perspective to the article's title:

Radiation spikes to lethal levels at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant

As alarming as an 1800mSv source is, one must consider distance from the source. An easy way to estimate dose rates at particular distances is to use the inverse square law. In this case, the dose rate at 100m would be 0.18mSv. A CT scan delivers about 9mSv.

Also, the article reported that it was beta radiation that was detected (electrons and positrons). A majority of beta radiation can be attenuated with about 6mm of aluminum.

Compared to many of the reports I've read regarding Fukushima, this article would only rate about a 2 (out of 10) on the hysteria meter. Fukushima is still a huge fucking mess and no doubt presents continued environmental risk until fully contained and cleaned; however, wild conjecture about global impact without the full UNSCEAR report is irresponsible.

I also think that UNSCEAR could do a lot better job of updating the general public about the progress of its investigation.