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To visit the area surrounding Fukushima you need a rad-protected hazmat suit, because apparently the contamination is so bad as to be deemed unsafe for unprotec
by maaku 12y ago
To visit the area surrounding Fukushima you need a rad-protected hazmat suit, because apparently the contamination is so bad as to be deemed unsafe for unprotected humans.
Yet if you pulled out a Geiger counter outside of the plant itself, the reading you'd get is less than what you'd see in a typical hot springs bath, the national leisure in Japan.
To be sure there is a difference between relaxing in a high-rad bath for an hour or two, now and then, and living in one 24/7. The latter probably wouldn't be very healthy, either. But our knee-jerk response to anything involving the word "radiation" some times does more damage (economic, etc.) than the radiation itself.
- rosser 12y agoSure, the air may not be tremendously hot (though I'm still seeing reports of 10-20 µSv/h as far out from the plant as 5km, when the US CFR's recommended annual aggregate dose limit for individuals is 1 mSv), but what about the groundwater? What about the soil?
- sliverstorm 12y agoNot an expert on these things, but as I understand it the groundwater can't actually become radioactive, it picks up trace radioactive material. So the next question is, how hard is that to filter, and how many people in Japan drink unfiltered groundwater.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- ars 12y agoYes, that is correct. Water can not become environmentally radioactive except as tritiated water which has a short lifetime both radioactively, and biologically. The longest half life for radioactive oxygen is 2 minutes. Tritium (from hydrogen) has a half life of 12 years, and is harmless externally. Internally it's dangerous but has a half life of only 1 to 2 weeks, so the danger is very limited. Mitigating the risk even more, tritium is rarely made by reactors (i.e. made in very small quantities), they prefer to make deuterium, which is not radioactive.
- bayesianhorse 12y agoProponents of nuclear power like to take situations out of context to make silly comparisons... You may not be wearing a suit for the immediate radiation level (which may or may not fluctuate), or not even for most things you touch accidentally, but rather for the freak speck of dirt or whatever that is actually contaminated, can make you sick or travel outside the perimeter on the bottom of your boots. So registering a low radiation level outside the plant does not mean the area is safer than a hot spring.