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Friday, July 8, 2011

Panic / Enviro Japan's Washington's New Normal

Posted by Goldy on Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 6:00 AM

WA Office of Radiation Protection

If you're wondering what that helicopter is doing flying low over your neighborhood, well, according to the Washington Office of Radiation Protection, it might be this:

Lessons from the nuclear incidents in Fukushima, Japan show the value of a project to measure background radiation levels in several parts of the state. A low-flying helicopter will gather radiological readings this summer, starting next week around Puget Sound.

[...] Mapping the normal amounts and location of radioactive material will provide a baseline for comparison to assess contamination if there were a nuclear incident like the events in Fukushima.

You know... just in case.

Comments (12) RSS

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Or, it could be that dude who lives in Blue Ridge who uses a helicopter to commute.

Posted by kerala on July 8, 2011 at 6:52 AM

Well, look, having more baseline data on anything is an unalloyed good, let's just focus on that.

Posted by Fistique on July 8, 2011 at 7:20 AM

Christ almighty. Are you still using news of precautionary measures as a basis for panic? We should get together sometime, Goldy. I'll teach you how to panic about the most pointless shit properly. I'm kind of an expert.

Posted by MacCrocodile on July 8, 2011 at 7:57 AM

Really, quit freaking out. The earthquake's gonna kill you first anyway.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on July 8, 2011 at 8:08 AM

What idiots dreamed up this waste of money? That data is immediately available on http://www.radiationnetwork.com through internet connected geiger counters.

Plus a helicopter cannot take long enough averages to obtain meaningful background/baseline levels anyways due to the random nature of radiation. That takes at least a 24 hour continuous reading.

Posted by Scandalmggr on July 8, 2011 at 8:22 AM

Still wondering...

Any deaths from Fuku (other than recovery workers)?

Any three headed babies born?

So far, get the cameras, the nuclear industry should be shooting commercials in Japan for how safe nukes are...

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on July 8, 2011 at 8:38 AM

squirrel

Posted by myr on July 8, 2011 at 9:03 AM

I once bought a Geiger counter on eBay just for fun. At the time I lived near an old navy base that at one point had nuke subs. Drove around and mapped out how radioactive my commute was (not very, except a bit raised in one area - probably due to rock formations there).

Posted by Matt the Engineer on July 8, 2011 at 9:41 AM

@8 - "I once bought a Geiger counter on eBay just for fun."

I can't tell if I like you more or less for that. On the one hand, you're the kind of person who buys scientific tools for fun. On the other hand, you own a crackling noisebox.

Posted by MacCrocodile on July 8, 2011 at 9:46 AM

@1 for the Billionaires and Millionaires think you are Serfs not Citizens win.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on July 8, 2011 at 10:33 AM

How is this Washington's new normal? This is people trying to figure out Washington's existing normal.

This post certainly makes me feel more justified in disregarding your histrionic caterwauling about anything related to nuclear power.

Posted by Ben on July 8, 2011 at 10:41 AM

"You know... just in case."

So you'd prefer they didn't measure the existing levels of background radiation? This measurement is a bad thing? It's clear you don't like nuclear power, but now you don't like precautions against nuclear accidents, too? You'd rather we just pretend it doesn't exist? I'm having trouble finding a coherent position among your posts.

You seem much better at trying to raise alarm than at recommending a consistent policy. Kind of like the Seattle Times, come to think of it.

Posted by Mike on July 8, 2011 at 11:30 AM