moozooh wrote:They cannot sustain safe temperatures for any of the cores in Units 1–3, and the spent fuel ponds (which contain lots of radioactive material not as well-shielded as fuel in the cores) are gradually overheating and catching fire, starting with the one at Unit 4
It's no longer a disaster, this is a fucking
catastrophe.
moozooh wrote:They are within normal limits for now (if I read the units right), but show an increase from normal background radiation of 14.0 CPM (~0.12 µSv/h) to 27.5 CPM (~0.23 µSv/h) over the past day alone.
Note that CPM activity can only be converted to an equivalent dose after modelling/analysis of the type of the emitter and cross-section of the absorbed (human body). The estimates are sketchy at best and you should only use it as an indication that material has been transferred. There are some "rule-of-thumb" conversions, but the readings themselves are quite normal. The trouble really is the material transfer, the radiation can sway wildly in some areas and remain undetectable in others. That said, looking at the chart's recent activity, I'm VERY concerned about the Fukushima area. The need to expand the exclusion zone to 60km at least.
rancor wrote:..Hopefully when all of this is over.
I'm afraid it's going to be a long time until the consequences of this are even understood, let alone boil over. Relax and keep your eye on that chart, you should definitely avoid an rainfall for the coming weeks. Stock up on water which has been bottled before the explosion at Unit-3. I'm trying to strike a balance between absolutely freaking you guys out (I've known for a while the extent of the damage here) and giving you advice to protect yourself and family.
The government of Japan (and indeed, anyone else for that matter) really does not have the resources, if the event should call for it, to evacuate 35 million people. That's why you shouldn't really pay attention to the non-technical politicians who are trying to break things slowly to people. It's kind of like old school countries where I'm from, where if a person dies, you break it to the person asking slowly. "Oh he's sick", "he's in hospital" then "I'm sorry but he passed away", all while he's already dead. This is what is happening with the announced state of these reactors.
Anyway, you can also adopt the way I look at absorbing radiation -- no dose is safe, but just like buying/selling assets (which you need to do to survive) there's no risk free investment. A higher dose just means there's a higher risk. Is the investment of staying where you are worth the risk (and of course, "unknown risk")? That's up to you and your family to decide. There is a risk in moving, afterall...
<RegalSin> It does not matter, which programming language you use, you will be up your neck in math.
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I would say with the abandonment of the control room, this is now very level a level 6 incident. Is Japan really still peddling the level 4 figure? The IAEA's credibility is also now on the line, as discredited it already is as an organisation of international affairs.
