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News & ArtsMonday, April 11, 2011
Science Fukushima Likely to be Rated Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale
Posted by Jonathan Golob on Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 12:27 PM
The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan released a preliminary calculation Monday saying that the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been releasing up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour at some point after a massive quake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11.
The disclosure prompted the government to consider raising the accident's severity level to 7, the worst on an international scale, from the current 5, government sources said. The level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale has only been applied to the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.
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The commission says the release has since come down to under 1 terabecquerel per hour and said that it is still examining the total amount of radioactive materials released.
These are some of the first estimates of the scale of the radiation released by the damaged reactors—and the amounts are staggeringly large. Three Mile Island, by comparison, was a paltry incident.
I'll reiterate the obvious: It's unwise to travel anywhere near these reactors—about a sixty mile radius. One should avoid eating foods—particularly iodine-rich foods—grown in the areas contaminated. The amount of radioactive material reaching the United States is tiny; unless you are in the immediate vicinity of the plant, there is little to no risk.
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It's unfortunate that the choice of designation appears to be up to the government of the country in which a crisis occurs, at least until enough information leaks out (along with the radioactivity) to make the official line seem ridiculous. It's an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scale, and they should take the lead, after due deliberation, in assigning the rating and revising up or down as data are refined. It doesn't interfere with sovereignty to state the obvious, and doing so improves the ability of neighboring countries (not to mention the citizens being most immediately irradiated) to minimize consequences.
Thanks for the update, Dr. Golob.
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An inter-agency analysis concluded that the accident did not raise radioactivity far enough above background levels to cause even one additional cancer death among the people in the area. The EPA found no contamination in water, soil, sediment or plant samples.
Also:
Public reaction to the event was probably influenced by The China Syndrome, a movie which had recently been released and which depicts an accident at a nuclear reactor.
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...unless you are in the immediate vicinity of the plant, there is little to no risk
Take the initial official statements from TEPCO of the danger near the plant. Divide them into the level of danger estimated in current statements.
Take that number and multiply by the quoted statement above about distant places.
Now you'll realize how dangerous it's become here.
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Because if we didn't learn from our mistakes, then we would be forced to admit that we are going to repeat them. And if we are going to repeat them, then we might be repeating them not just over there, but here.
But don't worry. We learn from our mistakes. Really.
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But keep soft-peddling. Because The Industry expects you to be a Good Tool.
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10,000 terabecquerels is the radiation in 10 billion kilograms of low-level waste. That's only 10 million tons. Per hour.
But don't worry, there's little to no risk.
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