[alanfalcon]

Handy radiation dose effect chart provided by Randall of XKCD (note: 1 microsievert = 0.0001 rem)

http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/03/19/radiation-chart/

Perhaps an interesting meta-discussion is the phenomenon of how choice of units affects the framing of a discussion. 0.1 rem doesn't sound nearly as dangerous as 1,000 μSv, though of course both numbers are completely meaningless to most lay people.

[justsee]

TEPCO measured radiation levels of 10 Sv in the basement of Reactor 1 in June this year [1].

In March TEPCO measured radiation levels of 73 Sv/h in the container vessel [2]. A Fukushima worker tweeted a radiation level estimation of > 1000 Sv for another part of the reactor (the endoscope used for radiation testing is only rated to 1000 Sv, so cannot be used) [3].

The radiation level next to Chernobyl immediately after the meltdown was 300 Sv/h.

Also in March, Arnie Gundersen of FaireWinds went to Tokyo to collect soil samples from parks and streets, and on testing the samples back in the US concluded they would be considered radioactive waste in the United States. [4]

The XKCD cartoon was produced during the perceived hysteria following the aftermath and reporting of the Fukushima radiation and fallout, but the history since then appears to indicate that the extreme concern over Fukushima radiation is depressingly justified.

[1] http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120629a7.html

[2] http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/03/73svh-in-container-vessel...

[3] https://twitter.com/Happy11311/status/184586152186097664

[4] http://fairewinds.org/content/tokyo-soil-samples-would-be-co...

[tsotha]

>...but the history since then appears to indicate that the extreme concern over Fukushima radiation is depressingly justified.

If you're living in the reactor containment vessel.

[justsee]

That's a stunningly ignorant risk assessment.

Unit 4 has significant structural damage, and contains the most (and most recently used) fuel rods, stored outside the containment wall. Another 7.5 earthquake could cause a collapse triggering a fuel rod fire that could not be put out. TEPCO's plan states that they cannot begin removing fuel rods until 2013, or possibly 2014. [1]. "There is as much cesium in the fuel pool at Unit 4 as there was in all of the atomic bombs dropped in all of the tests in the 1940's, the 1950's, the 1960's, and into the 1970's."

All that is required for a catastrophic release of radiation across the northern hemisphere is a significant seismic event.

Fukushima is now classed alongside Chernobyl as a category 7 reactor event, the area surrounding Fukushima will take decades to clean up, and the Japanese Government has admitted major human error within regulatory bodies, and within TEPCO and credulous government acceptance of the Nuclear industry's unfounded safety claims. [2]

And Muller claims that "Fukushima passed the test". You can't make this stuff up. But you can call it what it is, historical revisionism by an ardent supporter of the nuclear industry.

Considering the still perilous situation, it is a breathtakingly irresponsible and insensitive article to write. Truly astonishing.

[1] http://www.fairewinds.com/content/fukushima-daiichi-truth-an...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disas...

[tsotha]

>That's a stunningly ignorant risk assessment.

Or maybe it's just a rational one. None of what you've brought up contradicts my point. The problem isn't ignorance on my part, but rather hysteria on yours. Really, if this is the way you approach life I'm surprised you have the courage to get out of bed in the morning.

>Unit 4 has significant structural damage, and contains the most (and most recently used) fuel rods, stored outside the containment wall. Another 7.5 earthquake could cause a collapse triggering a fuel rod fire that could not be put out.

Or it could do nothing at all. You do realize they spent the first part of this year pouring concrete and putting in steel rods to stabilize that building, right? Did you think they've been drinking sake and shooting the breeze all this time?

>"There is as much cesium in the fuel pool at Unit 4 as there was in all of the atomic bombs dropped in all of the tests in the 1940's, the 1950's, the 1960's, and into the 1970's."

Yes, the reactors and pools are contaminated. And it will take a few years to get all that ugly stuff into completely safe storage. And? As long as the fuel doesn't go anywhere it doesn't matter how long it takes to clean up.

>Fukushima is now classed alongside Chernobyl as a category 7 reactor event, the area surrounding Fukushima will take decades to clean up

I find it amazing people can say (presumably) with a straight face that because shares some subset of characteristics with Chernobyl that it's OMG JUST AS BAD AS CHERNOBYL!!!! It's not as bad as Chernobyl by orders of magnitude. It never was.

As far as the exclusion zone goes, it's only 20 km. Even for a country as land-poor as Japan that's not much.

[justsee]

I wouldn't be so generous as to call your initial comment a point. More like an antagonistic expression of wilful ignorance.

That you would assert that the only people who need to be concerned with radiation are people 'living in a containment vessel' is simply absurd.

All you're doing now is applying the industry's standard response to rational concerns over a disastrous reactor incident: paint public concern as ignorant 'hysteria', engage in a bit of character assassination ("I'm surprised you have the courage to get out of bed in the morning"), and gloss over the seriousness of the situation, and impacts ("it's only 20 km").

Your stance also clearly indicates you've read little on the impact on the ground in Fukushima over the last year. I don't think there's much to be gained from discussing this issue with you, as at any point you'll be arguing with a concocted mental model of an opponent who is 'hysterical' and 'ignorant', and bring only arrogance and snark to the table. Boring.