30 Japanese Workers at Fukushima Exposed to High Radiation (15 meters deep walls to be built)

[jpak]

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=127584

Thirty workers at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan have been exposed to levels of radiation higher than the ones determined as safe.

The news was reported Saturday by the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS citing the NPP operator TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co).

TEPCO further announced plans to build underground walls surrounding the damaged reactors in order to stop contaminated water from spreading in the environment.

Workers will have to dig 15 meters down in the ground to reach dirt which is not permeable and build the walls from this point up.

<not much more>

[Fledermaus]

1. Probably, the beginnings of a sarcophagus. Built by an army of nuclear gypsies this time.

and the water table on the land side? How do they keep it out? It will stop the natural underground flow to the sea.

[caraher]

2. very sketchy article as far as radiation exposures

It includes no links to its sources and doesn't say a peep about what the doses actually were. Since there's really no such thing an agreed-upon "safe" dose saying the levels were higher than that is meaningless. Chances are it means they exceeded some regulatory limit, but since that itself is a moving target in Japan right now it's hard to say whether they mean 100 mSv, 250 mSv or what.

Based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_effects_from_Fukushima_I_nuclear_accidents#Exposure_of_workers">Wikipedia I'd guess that would 100mSv (they say that as of March 29, 19 workers had exceeded that level).

[Sirveri]

3. Japan raised the limit to 250 mSv.

General 1 Sv is considered the point where you start to get low level radiation sickness.

Cancer risk however... It's a crap shoot, kinda like Russian roulette, increases your chances, but there's also a chance nothing will happen. Hard data on that is hard to come by.

[SpoonFed]

4. Nice analogy,

the nuclear fission power industry is exactly like Russian roulette.

[Sirveri]

5. Not really, unless your revolver has ~500 chambers...

And technically it's quite survivable to have a nuclear accident (as opposed to a gunshot wound to the head). Considering that it took the fifth biggest earthquake in recorded human history, combined with a Tsunami, to knock out this facility... Well I'm not all that concerned as far as Western plant safety goes, they appear pretty rugged, if history is any guide this will just make them even more rugged.

[SpoonFed]

6. Absurd analogy but deadly...

And technically it's quite survivable to have a nuclear accident (as opposed to a gunshot wound to the head).

Plenty of people have survived being shot in the head. But I like where you're going with this analogy. Nuclear fission plants are like shooting yourself in the head. Maybe you'll live, but probably not. There are like 500+ bullets in the gun. Sometimes 4 bullets get fired simultanteously.

Seems like the same absurd proposition that it's "quite survivable to have a nuclear war".
Sane people don't play Russian roulette or take their chances at nuclear war.

Keep digging.

[Sirveri]

7. keep making strawmen.

I'm not playing. Try having a serious discussion next time, or stick to the doomer shtick, whatever floats your boat.

[Yo_Mama]

8. 100 milliSieverts

TEPCO is tracking that level.