Source: Minuscule fallout reaches US

[jpak]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4044225,00.html

Radioactive fallout from Japan's crippled nuclear plant has reached Southern California but the first readings are far below levels that could pose a health hazard, a diplomat said Friday.

<not much more>

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Updates on EPA's Monitoring Efforts

http://www.epa.gov/japan2011/data-updates.html

Updates on EPA's Monitoring Efforts

As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said, we do not expect to see radiation at harmful levels reaching the U.S. from damaged Japanese nuclear power plants. As part of the federal government's continuing effort to make our activities and science transparent and available to the public, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will continue to keep all RadNet data available in the current online database. EPA is working with its federal partners and has deployed additional monitors to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

As always, EPA is utilizing this existing nationwide radiation monitoring system, RadNet, which continuously monitors the nation's air and regularly monitors drinking water, milk and precipitation for environmental radiation. The RadNet online searchable database contains historical data of environmental radiation monitoring data from all fifty states and U.S. territories.

EPA will provide daily data summaries of our radiation air monitoring efforts. We will continue to keep all RadNet data available in the current http://epa.gov/cdx/">online database.

March 17, 2011

As of 2:00pm (EDT) EPA's RadNet radiation air monitors across the U.S. show typical fluctuations in background radiation levels.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

2. but, but, I thought the Plume didn't exist!!

Notice they didn't give us any actual numbers to trouble our little heads about.

It's not the immediate death hazard that we're worried about.

It is long-term exposure to a continual plume.
It will build up in the environment, in the food, and in the people.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I don't necessarily trust a diplomat to understand radiation readings

Honestly, it’s the people in Japan and East Asia who have the most to worry about.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

4. definitely, but we're not at 0 risk as some would have you believe.

[FBaggins]

7. If your chance of getting cancer goes from 42%...

...to 42.000000000000001% is that really something worth talking about?

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FBaggins]

14. Yep. The chances are probably even lower.

But you gotta stop typing zeros eventually. :)

We're talking small fractions of a micromort here. You've already wasted more of your life posting on this thread than it will shorten.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

18. have you ever taken a class in Nuclear Physics? or are you just an expert on everything?

[FBaggins]

19. Majored in the subject. Still not an expert.

But the experts will tell you the same thing.

or are you just an expert on everything?

Hardly. But I do try to limit comments that are argumentative in nature to things I'm pretty comfortable with.


The amount of radiation that we can detect is many orders of magnitude lower than anything you should care about. If you take a long walk and go up a hill, you are exposing yourself to higher radiation levels (by an incredibly minute amount). Do you really care?


On edit - Majored in Physics, not specifically nuclear physics... but had more than one course in the subject. Was planning on designing nuclear-powered ships/boats.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

21. what happens when you are exposed to low levels of radiation for a long time?

sure, it's not going to make anyone fall over dead on contact.

But it is most certainly not a good thing.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. We are never at 0 risk

That's why the Bush administration kept going on about us being, “safer, but not safe,” as if they could eventually bring us to the level of 0 risk. (Be afraid! Be very afraid!)

There’s a non-zero risk to the US from what’s going on in Japan. However, it’s really quite small, compared (for example) to the radiation risk from when we bombed Japan, or when we did open-air testing in the west, or…


Most of us deal with the possibility of radon exposure in our homes. It’s a radiation risk that’s virtually always with us.
http://www.epa.gov/radon/zonemap.html

http://www.epa.gov/radon/

Exposure to radon in the home is responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Radon is a health hazard with a simple solution. Read "http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html">A Citizen's Guide to Radon".

How many of us bother to monitor it? (Familiarity breeds contempt.)


If I lived on the West Coast of the US, I would be much more concerned about the threat of an earthquake/tsunami in my own back yard than I would be of radiation resulting from Japan’s earthquake.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

11. so why even bother paying attention, right?

:sarcasm:

[OKIsItJustMe]

12. No, by all means, pay attention. That’s what the EPA is doing.

However, let’s try to keep things in perspective.

[FBaggins]

6. It's far closer to "doesn't exist"

than "build up in the environment, in the food, and in the people."

You're probably getting more radiation from reading this post if you're on a CRT than you're getting from the plume.

There are levels that equate to "yeah... we can detect it... but it isn't worth discussing"

Bananas are radioactive... but they're still good for you. :)

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. "Radiation" -vs- "radiation"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation">Electromagnetic Radiation (the kind emitted by a CRT) is not the same as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation">Ionizing Radiation (the kind that might be carried on the wind from Japan.)

[FBaggins]

13. Good point.

I was getting tired of the banana example so I just went from memory. I should have stuck with the old BED.

But seriously... what levels are being recorded?

[OKIsItJustMe]

15. Levels above 0 !11!!1!1

Sorry, I'm no nuke fan, but I'm tired of the paranoia. Damn it! Millions of people face a much higher radiation threat in Japan.


One of the reasons I mentioned radon is because it is a natural, fluctuating source of ionizing radiation in people’s homes. It wouldn't be unreasonable for people to monitor it continuously, but I would be willing to bet that the majority never even test more than once (if they test at all.)

However, at the thought of radiation wafting across the ocean from Japan, they get their panties all in a twist.

[FBaggins]

17. Stomping your foot doesn't make it so, eh?

Damn it! Millions of people face a much higher radiation threat in Japan.

They face the potential for a much higher threat if things get worse (or continue to get worse if that's your perspective).

One of the reasons I mentioned radon is because it is a natural, fluctuating source of ionizing radiation in people’s homes. It wouldn't be unreasonable for people to monitor it continuously, but I would be willing to bet that the majority never even test more than once (if they test at all.)

You're exactly right. But what if they knew that the average dose from radon was many thousands of times what the average person in Japan (virtually anyone not at/near the plant) had received? (On edit - I don't know what Japan's radon levels are... it's just a guess).

Can't we all just agree that we're blowing things out of proportion if we would save more lives by taking out an add "get your home checked for radon" in the NorthEast than this is likely to take (assuming it doesn't get worse)?

[OKIsItJustMe]

20. Threat by definition is a potential

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/threat">Threat regards an uncertain future.

So, yes, the threat faced by the Japanese from a (possible) meltdown is much greater than that faced by Americans on the West Coast, in that there is much greater potential for harm.

Regarding radon, although it’s a greater threat in the North East US, it’s also a threat in the South West US.

[Angry Dragon]

5. He issues the statement from his underground bunker

300 feet below the surface

[dbackjon]

16. Which, if built in rock, is more radioactive than the air