The_Kat Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Just saw a article on MSNBC.com that states particles have been tracked leaving japan and are expected to cross completely over the US and eventually even reach Europe. Of course these amounts are supposed to be minute, but if enough radioactive particles have been released to cover the US and still make it to Europe, then the media has been downplaying the amount of radiation being released by these plants. I work with radiation everyday, and have 3 survey meters ( sniffers ) on my rig at all times. I'm also monitored by rate alarms that sound off if levels get high enough. Early reports showed levels at the plant of 7mR an hour being released which is far from dangerous. However I just read a report of 400mSv which is equal to 40R or Rem. In one year I am allowed to take a dose of 5R which is monitored by a film badge I wear constantly. To put that into perspective, 40R is 8 years of dosage. 40R in one hour is a lethal dose. I sure hope they figure something out quickly. This is turning into a bigger deal than I thought at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Of course these amounts are supposed to be minute, but if enough radioactive particles have been released to cover the US and still make it to Europe, then the media has been downplaying the amount of radiation being released by these plants. Dunno much about radioactive floaties, but yeah was thinking it had to be worse than was being led on by the media too. Heard on the radio this morning that the Japanese authorities are not looking at expanding the evacuation zone, but also heard the level of this problem is now a 6 on a scale of 7. Seems to me there is some degree of conflicting information being given. Really feel bad for the people in that mess. Guessing what reaches the US will not be as bad as what you get injected with when getting nuclear scans, but honestly don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Early reports showed levels at the plant of 7mR an hour being released which is far from dangerous. However I just read a report of 400mSv which is equal to 40R or Rem. In one year I am allowed to take a dose of 5R which is monitored by a film badge I wear constantly. To put that into perspective, 40R is 8 years of dosage. 40R in one hour is a lethal dose. Ok Skippy, not all of us work with this type of stuff........please speak the English. Thanks, Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Here is some food for thought: Edited March 17, 2011 by ruttinbuc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 A full body CT scan is about 2 mR. If it stays at or below that, then it will go unnoticed. The problem with the particles is that they contaminate. My radiation source is Iridium 192. However it is in a shielded container and doesn't leave particles behind. Particles of radiation will always give off radiation....even in small amounts. Small amounts over a long period of time are just as harmful as acute radiation. Just takes longer to make you sick. Not to mention all the problems that come from drinking milk, eating beef, chicken, pork, etc of critters and plants that have ingested particles. The distance from the plant does not matter in radiations power. The particles contain the radioactive waves. The only difference that would affect the "power" of the cloud is if there are less particles falling the farther it travels. I just hope they don't reach the US period. Once they do I think people are gonna freak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 A full body CT scan is about 2 mR. If it stays at or below that, then it will go unnoticed. The problem with the particles is that they contaminate. My radiation source is Iridium 192. However it is in a shielded container and doesn't leave particles behind. Particles of radiation will always give off radiation....even in small amounts. Small amounts over a long period of time are just as harmful as acute radiation. Just takes longer to make you sick. Not to mention all the problems that come from drinking milk, eating beef, chicken, pork, etc of critters and plants that have ingested particles. The distance from the plant does not matter in radiations power. The particles contain the radioactive waves. The only difference that would affect the "power" of the cloud is if there are less particles falling the farther it travels. I just hope they don't reach the US period. Once they do I think people are gonna freak. So unlike what is injected in people for nuclear tests you are saying there is no half life or rather the half life of the particles coming from Japan are infinite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Ok Skippy, not all of us work with this type of stuff........please speak the English. Thanks, Me Ok sorry..... Lets put it this way. If you come on a jobsite as an unmonitored person, I have to post radiation signs far enough away from my source to keep you at 2mR or less. The dose that was reported at the plant of 40R ( rem ) (1R=1000mR ) is 800,000 times stronger than the dose you'd be allowed to work around. The dosage a person receives is measured by the dose rate of the source they are near multiplied by their time in the exposure area. Don't take what I am saying as a reason to worry....I'm not trying to put fear in anyone. I'm just wanting you all to know that the situation is MUCH worse than it was reported a few days ago. Particles are not something we want here. Ever seen movies of the guys in radioactive jump suits on ET? If particles get here with levels much above .5mR then you will be seeing them live and in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 So unlike what is injected in people for nuclear tests you are saying there is no half life or rather the half life of the particles coming from Japan are infinite? Completely different sources of radiation bud. Different radioactive isotopes have different strengths. For example I use Ir-192 daily in my work. However we also use Co-60 ( Cobalt-60 ) which is MUCH stronger and where IR192 has a half life of 75 days.....CO-60 has a half life of 5.3 years. Cesium's half life is 30 years. So lets say a particle of Ce-137 has a source strength of 1.5 mR.....it would weaken very slowly and 30 years later would still emit .75 mR 30 years later. People get CT Scans and the dose to them is not produced from particles. It's from a controlled course such as an Xray tube, or a controlled gamma source. Once the powers turned off, or the source is stored in it's shield position, the radition is GONE! Particles however can't be turned off. They are constantly giving off radiation. Am I making sense here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohiobucks Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm not down playing anything, but let's not all hit the panic button just yet. Read the story - the same thing happened with Chernobyl. Trace amounts were all over the US after that meltdown. Official: Low radioactivity heads for N. America - World news - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com "In the past when they had nuclear weapons tests in China ... then there were similar clouds all the time without anybody caring about it at all," he said. In a similar way, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the west coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule, the newspaper said. The CTBTO projection gave no information about actual radiation levels but only showed how a radioactive plume would probably move and disperse, it said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Completely different sources of radiation bud. Different radioactive isotopes have different strengths. For example I use Ir-192 daily in my work. However we also use Co-60 ( Cobalt-60 ) which is MUCH stronger and where IR192 has a half life of 75 days.....CO-60 has a half life of 5.3 years. Cesium's half life is 30 years. So lets say a particle of Ce-137 has a source strength of 1.5 mR.....it would weaken very slowly and 30 years later would still emit .75 mR 30 years later. People get CT Scans and the dose to them is not produced from particles. It's from a controlled course such as an Xray tube, or a controlled gamma source. Once the powers turned off, or the source is stored in it's shield position, the radition is GONE! Particles however can't be turned off. They are constantly giving off radiation. Am I making sense here? Yep, makes sense Kyle. No comparing the types of nuclear dye used in tests to this stuff used for reactors, did not realize the half life of what they use might be as much as 30 years. I know for some of the scans I have had(pet, and nuclear stress tests) they have told me to stay away from pregnant women and children for a certain length of time, where my question came in with comparing how exposure to particles might compare. Half life for whatever they inject you with there is very short and of course minute amount. Kind of puts things in perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gzilla45 Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I certainly hope they can contain the problem soon but most of what I have read so far has been along these lines: Experts: U.S. won't feel health effects from Japan – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 If you were alive in 1986 you carry in you a little piece of Chernobyl. Looks like we will al have a little piece of Japan as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I work with radiation everyday, and have 3 survey meters ( sniffers ) on my rig at all times. QUOTE] HOMER????????? Don't be eatin' any of them glowing donuts!!!! Sorry KAT. I just couldn't resist. I'm sure you guys get that stuff thrown at you all the time and it likely gets pretty old after a while. But still, the little guy in black on my left shoulder overuled the little guy in white on my right shoulder and made me do it! :argue: On a more serious note, I'm pretty skeptical of listening to the news reports and putting 100% faith in some of the stuff that they portray with their so called "EXPERTS". Media is in the business of creating hype because controversy sells news, and every reporter is chasing their "Watergate" headline story hoping for some award and an increased salary adjustment. To be quite honest, I have no faith in 95% of most news reports and often see most of the news media as something in a catagory with politicians (you can read into that what you will). For example, let's say you were interviewed by a news reporter about something near and dear to you. Let's say about hunting. You believe you've put a pretty good spin on the positive aspects of hunting. Then when the story comes out in the media, they make you look like a gun toting wild person named BUBBA, who's bent on killing everything that moves, or you think is going to move. NO? Well for those of you who are old enough to remember, just recall the documentary that CBS aired back in the 70s called "The Guns of Autumn". I need say no more! With regards to the crisis in Japan, my heart goes out to the people there and hope and pray for some sanity and security for them all. As for the media reports, I use them only to direct me as to where I can go to do some research on my own to verify or refute some of the stuff I have trouble believing. TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gzilla45 Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I just read this a few minutes ago and first thought that it was a good thing. Then I started thinking about what would happen to all of the particles that fall into the ocean. I know the oceans are massive but do we need to worry about the fish populations? "These releases from the plant, because they're not elevated, because they're not getting up high in the atmosphere, they won't travel very far," said Kathryn Higley, director of the department of nuclear engineering at Oregon State University. "There are so many factors in our favor. Rain will knock it down. There are 5,000 miles of ocean between us and Japan. It will be diluted, it will mix with sea spray, long before it gets remotely close to us." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Agree with most of you that theres no need for frenzy or panic. Just want to state that the levels they ( the US and NRC ) have measured is VERY HIGH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoonChatter Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 There is nothing coming our way that will impact us. You will get more radiation flying in a plane from New York to LA than you will get from anything that might float over. The media is actually talking it up way more than it really is. You should go read and research the Nuclear Energy Institute as well as World Nuclear News. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 you know, life is full of things that we can fix, correct, or help. life is too short to worry about those things we cannot do anything about. i think i'll just breathe in and out as normal, and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks for the info but I am about 1/2 on the other side of the world so I won't worry about radiation in Japan. Prayers go out to all those there, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTPROFamily Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I want to thank you Kyle for the very informative information that you gave to us. So, when your detector that you wear gives you the big signal please let us know! Really though, I am glad to have someone we know have some knowledge on the levels of danger. It seems so far away but look how quick the tsunami reached our coast. Obama is even getting all govt. Americans out asap. My husbands sister is an ER nurse(RN) in Santa Cruz and she said it should be winding down by the time it gets there. Even Fox news doesn't think that the Japanese Govt. is telling the real danger of the radiation levels that are escaping there. I do not believe most news reports that I hear either but Fox is usually the most reliable. I do say a prayer for those people in Japan. I have talked on the phone just a few months ago to some really nice folks at one of the TV stations there about Randy going to Tokyo for the Guinness TV show. I am glad that he did not take that job! I heard that the British are removing their search and rescue folks and sending them home because of the levels of danger. Thanks again Kyle for your very detailed response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m gardner Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I think that so far the explosions at the plants haven't put any particles high enough into the atmosphere to be carried very far. That could all change very quickly if they keep failing to get the situation under control. From what I gather most of the particles are very heavy and fall to the earth fairly quickly and we haven't been hit with anything that is health threatening yet, because most of it was carried on prevailing winds and fell into the ocean. If it is blown into the jet stream it will be much worse. On a lighter note the passangers on airplanes from Japan have been triggering radiation alarms at the airports they disembark at so it must be pretty hot in Japan. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 The particles have reached California. Levels in those particles are not enough to worry over at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 I think the media has this way overblown as respects impacts to the USA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebohio Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Just saw a article on MSNBC.com that states particles have been tracked leaving japan and are expected to cross completely over the US and eventually even reach Europe. Of course these amounts are supposed to be minute, but if enough radioactive particles have been released to cover the US and still make it to Europe, then the media has been downplaying the amount of radiation being released by these plants. I work with radiation everyday, and have 3 survey meters ( sniffers ) on my rig at all times. I'm also monitored by rate alarms that sound off if levels get high enough. Early reports showed levels at the plant of 7mR an hour being released which is far from dangerous. However I just read a report of 400mSv which is equal to 40R or Rem. In one year I am allowed to take a dose of 5R which is monitored by a film badge I wear constantly. To put that into perspective, 40R is 8 years of dosage. 40R in one hour is a lethal dose. I sure hope they figure something out quickly. This is turning into a bigger deal than I thought at first. your thermo luminessent dosimeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 your thermo luminessent dosimeter Some companies use those, we however use badges and static dosimeters along with NDS rate alarms, and NDS ND-2000 survey meters. Thermos are a bit expensive and can mess up easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeck Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Some companies use those, we however use badges and static dosimeters along with NDS rate alarms, and NDS ND-2000 survey meters. Thermos are a bit expensive and can mess up easily. Kyle I don't know anything that your saying, but dang it sounds cool. Now I think I will go golfing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.