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Radioactive output of Chernobyl = 140e6 curies [1] Output in picocuries = 140e6 * 1e12 = 1.4e20 Picocuries per kg of bananas = 3520 Radioactive output of Che

• cwp 16y ago
  Neat, but misses the point.
  • jcl 16y ago
    Not really. One thing missing from the article is the banana equivalent level for more serious radiation concerns, such as the banana-equivalent of a chest x-ray or radiation poisoning. Otherwise, when someone hears, for example, that living within 10 miles of a certain nuclear plant is equivalent to eating a banana a day, they may well conclude that both the plant and bananas are serious health risks.
    • cwp 16y ago
      Ah, good point. I was thinking more along these lines: the purpose of talking about "banana equivalent doses" is to make otherwise meaningless numbers easier to understand by relating them to everyday experience. The comment by m0th87 doesn't really do that. "40000000000000000 kilograms of bananas" is just as difficult to comprehend as "140000000 curies". So to relate serious radiation back to bananas, let's say that Chernobyl released as much radiation as worldwide banana production[1] for the next 55,000 years. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannana#Trade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannana#Trade
      • rbanffy 16y ago
        > 140000000 curies I gather 140000000 curies means something like "how many is the least of your problems"