Japanese earthquake / tsunami discussion

Chad ghostal

this geiger-count is back up: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/geiger-counter-tokyo
It's inside someone's room in central though, so if it gets bad, then everyone in Tokyo is in trouble.

digme

women are unable to process anything like this,they are too fcking daft.

Mod note:user banned for this gem

who what when

zerks wrote: »

My missus has a kind of "if it's not happening here it's ok" attitude,had a row the other day over my leaving on the coverage and trying to talk about it.I reckon most women (prepares for backlash) have a similar attitude.If they had a storyline of something similar in one of the soaps it would affect them more.:(

Very very true. My missus is exactly the same.

some_dose

digme wrote: »

women are unable to process anything like this,they are too fcking daft.

Hohoho! The mods aren't gonna like that one!

Cionád

novarock wrote: »

My advice is to not worry until there is something factual to worry about. Nobody on here understands what is going on. Be assured that they have managed to keep this under reasonable control for four days now, and are still doing an amazing job.

I think the most worrying aspect of it is how there seems to be a pattern of the problem spreading to each of the reactors. I wouldn't call the situation under control at all, they are trying their best of course, but this is extremely difficult to manage.

ToniTuddle

zerks wrote: »

My missus has a kind of "if it's not happening here it's ok" attitude,had a row the other day over my leaving on the coverage and trying to talk about it.I reckon most women (prepares for backlash) have a similar attitude.If they had a storyline of something similar in one of the soaps it would affect them more.:(

We are not all like your wife. :rolleyes:
Just pat her on the head and carry on about your day! :pac:

Mr Benevolent

Cionád wrote: »

I think the most worrying aspect of it is how there seems to be a pattern of the problem spreading to each of the reactors. I wouldn't call the situation under control at all, they are trying their best of course, but this is extremely difficult to manage.

It's because all the reactor are built exactly indentical so they suffered the same damage and will fail in the same way. I won't be surprised if all four cores melt.

Inquitus

Chad ghostal wrote: »

this geiger-count is back up: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/geiger-counter-tokyo
It's inside someone's room in central though, so if it gets bad, then everyone in Tokyo is in trouble.

Shouldn't it be set to reading mR/hr not CPM?

novarock

Cionád wrote: »

I think the most worrying aspect of it is how there seems to be a pattern of the problem spreading to each of the reactors. I wouldn't call the situation under control at all, they are trying their best of course, but this is extremely difficult to manage.

It is under control as in there wasnt an immediate meltdown after the third line of defence failed. they re-engineered the system to pump in seawater, which renders the reactor unusable, but gives them some control. They have also saturated the water with boron, which again counteracts high radiation. The plant was hit head on by the biggest earthquake japan has seen in a long time, followed by taking the brunt of a tsunami that levelled every town on that coast, and essentially washed away the secondary diesel generators that power the cooling system.

that was four days ago - and only now are we starting to see radiation levels creep up. Id call that some degree of control.

Glowing

Confab wrote: »

Generally they're not as interested in the technical stuff and can't see the relevance it has to us. It actually doesn't have much immediate relevance to us anyway. Still, it's extremely interesting and quite frightening, not to mention educational.

That's extremely sexist of you to say that - I've been glued to this thread for 3 days now :-|

AlteredMind

zerks wrote: »

My missus has a kind of "if it's not happening here it's ok" attitude,had a row the other day over my leaving on the coverage and trying to talk about it.I reckon most women (prepares for backlash) have a similar attitude.If they had a storyline of something similar in one of the soaps it would affect them more.:(

Smart man.

Not only am I a woman, but I'm in the US. My husband is sick of my following this so closely. I stumbled across this thread and it's been a font of knowledge and information.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has posted such great information.

Such a scary time.

biko

Leave the misogyny outside.

damoz

Chad ghostal wrote: »

this geiger-count is back up: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/geiger-counter-tokyo
It's inside someone's room in central though, so if it gets bad, then everyone in Tokyo is in trouble.

So for the uneducated - what is a normal reading range - and what is a concern for human health.

I am still due in Japan in 2 weeks, so looking at this thread very closely. Obvioulsy an impending nuclear disaster is not something i want to see first hand.

maquiladora

Chad ghostal wrote: »

this geiger-count is back up: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/geiger-counter-tokyo
It's inside someone's room in central though, so if it gets bad, then everyone in Tokyo is in trouble.

I notice its about twice as high as it was when I saw that last night.
But do we even know that its in Tokyo? Could be anyone pretending they are there. Also, no idea what environmental conditions are changing wherever that is that might influence the reading. Pinch of salt.

maquiladora

Lufthansa is scanning aircraft that return from Japan for radioactivity, is also rerouting Tokyo-bound flights to Osaka - NBC News

mandrake04

damoz wrote: »

So for the uneducated - what is a normal reading range - and what is a concern for human health.

I am still due in Japan in 2 weeks, so looking at this thread very closely. Obvioulsy an impending nuclear disaster is not something i want to see first hand.

I work in the business and my legal annual limit is 20 mSv but for Joe Public which would be about 99.99% of people on this thread it is 1 mSv above background.

I have copped a total of 34 mSv over the last 5 years and that includes my normal background, work exposure and flights (I tend to travel a lot).

anything above 250 mSv and I would be concerned, anything above 500 mSv and I be shiting myself about my long term prospects.

1 Sv you are talking about RS and and 4 Sv would be classed as ARS.

Above 6 and its LD50/30

damoz

mandrake04 wrote: »

I work in the business and my legal annual limit is 20 mSv but for Joe Public which would be about 99.99% of people on this thread it is 1 mSv above background.

I have copped a total of 34 mSv over the last 5 years and that includes my normal background, work exposure and flights (I tend to travel a lot).

anything above 250 mSv and I would be concerned, anything above 500 mSv and I be shiting myself about my long term prospects.

1 Sv you are talking about RS and and 4 Sv would be classed as ARS.

Above 6 and its LD50/30

Thanks - how does mSv relate to the CPM scale used on that counter ?


EDIT _ found an answer - 100 cpm is about equal to 1 microseivert per hour

jackiebaron

mandrake04 wrote: »

I work in the business and my legal annual limit is 20 mSv but for Joe Public which would be about 99.99% of people on this thread it is 1 mSv above background.

I have copped a total of 34 mSv over the last 5 years and that includes my normal background, work exposure and flights (I tend to travel a lot).

anything above 250 mSv and I would be concerned, anything above 500 mSv and I be shiting myself about my long term prospects.

1 Sv you are talking about RS and and 4 Sv would be classed as ARS.

Above 6 and its LD50/30

Thanks mandrake but we don't really know what those acronyms are. I'm guessing RS is radiation sickness but what the hell is "LD50/30" ??

damoz

jackiebaron wrote: »

Thanks mandrake but we don't really know what those acronyms are. I'm guessing RS is radiation sickness but what the hell is "LD50/30" ??

accute?

littlefriend

zerks wrote: »

My missus has a kind of "if it's not happening here it's ok" attitude,had a row the other day over my leaving on the coverage and trying to talk about it.I reckon most women (prepares for backlash) have a similar attitude.If they had a storyline of something similar in one of the soaps it would affect them more.:(

Not sure do I feel more sorry for you or your wife. Anyway, you'd enjoy this:
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjxY9rZwNGU

Cantona's Collars

AlteredMind wrote: »

Smart man.

Not only am I a woman, but I'm in the US. My husband is sick of my following this so closely. I stumbled across this thread and it's been a font of knowledge and information.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has posted such great information.

Such a scary time.

Welcome to boards:) There was a great graphic on CNN last night which gave a simple and clear explanation of what type of meltdown would occur.
Basically the rods overheat and fall to the bottom of the chamber,the more this happens the higher the dose of radiation released and that the engineers there would have less control over the release of pressure from the core.There would be an explosion which would reach about 500 metres into the sky but it wouldn't be anything like a Chernobyl situation.
As an aside-I found those iodine tabs while tidying last week that the government sent out a couple of years ago.:cool:

CheGuedara

jackiebaron wrote: »

Thanks mandrake but we don't really know what those acronyms are. I'm guessing RS is radiation sickness but what the hell is "LD50/30" ??

Lethal dose for 50% of the exposed within 30 days

No bueno...

mandrake04

damoz wrote: »

Thanks - how does mSv relate to the CPM scale used on that counter ?

well normal is 1 mSv per total year.

If the scale was reading 200 µSv/hr then exposure over 5 hrs is equal to what a average person should expect in an entire year.

damoz

Taken from : http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/03/14/geiger-counter-readings-rise-in-tokyo


.....one hundred counts per minute in a Geiger counter like this is equivalent to 1 microseivert per hour. It takes about a full seivert (equal one million microseiverts) to have a risk of death from acute radiation poisoning. At lower levels of exposure, around 100 milliseiverts, one can suffer some permanent injury (like infertility). A dose of 1 milliseivert per year is considered a 'safe' annual dose of radiation.

These levels are nowhere near anything that would cause short-term injury. The rise in CPM is more a reflection that some radiation from the plant (hundreds of miles away) is now reaching Tokyo—a curiosity more than an actual concern. Radiation at this level would—for example—never prompt an evacuation of a city.

mandrake04

jackiebaron wrote: »

Thanks mandrake but we don't really know what those acronyms are. I'm guessing RS is radiation sickness but what the hell is "LD50/30" ??

RS is radiation sickness
ARS is acute radiation sickness (vomiting, the runs etc)
LD50/30 is 50% chance of death within 30 days

Loomis

From BBC Breaking News on Twitter:

Accident at #Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant upgraded to level six crisis, on scale of seven, say French officials - AFP

:eek:

daelight

Radiation peaked approx 80 cpm in Tokyo at lunchtime today. Fell sharply and has remained approx 20 cpm since 3pm. 20 cpm is about the norm here however many people have concerns about just how much worse it can get. Some of my co-workers are heading to Osaka and further. Some may leave.

The winds are changing fron Northerly today to easterly tomorrow, can only pray that those reactors can hold on bit longer.. a few weeks longer...

Saadyst

From virtually every "news" outlet today:

More exaggeration and scaremongering



Comon look for and listen to the facts that are around people...

Le King

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

From BBC Breaking News on Twitter:

Accident at #Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant upgraded to level six crisis, on scale of seven, say French officials - AFP

:eek:

Still ten times lesser than the 7 rated Chernobyl.

I really hope the Radiation remains under control. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LUPV580.htm

Thrill

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

From BBC Breaking News on Twitter:

Accident at #Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant upgraded to level six crisis, on scale of seven, say French officials - AFP

:eek:

Only France has upped it to 6. It's still recognized as a 4 by everyone else.