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Radiation Exposure from Japan Nuclear Power Plants... What are they monitoring for? What's next? Are you prepared? Do you know how to use radiological monitors?
The worst case scenario for the nuclear reactors in Japan is for them to go critical. Do you understand the potential for this?
Unanswered question... If a nuclear reactor goes critical, does this change the outcome and potential impact on the rest of the world?
What's your take on this?
Are you purchasing iodine (potassium iodate) to be prepared in the event that iodine-131 is released from the reactors because of an escalating problem?
While we are not being given much information through the media, you may be able to make some determinations based on how and where they are monitoring people.
Key Point: Alpha, Beta and Gamma monitoring require different monitoring heads & techniques. If you are aware of these operational procedures, then you have a better chance of understanding what the hazards are.
Example: Where are these individuals being monitored and how close are the monitors being held to the surface of the skin?
Anyone want to make some comments on what you see in the above three photographs taken this week in Japan?
1. What are they monitoring for? (specifics e.g. alpha, beta, gamma radiation...)
2. What are the primary monitoring points that you should do on a person?
3. What is not being provided for these patient/victim(s)?
Not wanting to make this post into a training discussion on how to use radiological instrumentation, it seems appropriate to first ask some questions to see if there is an interest level in this topic before spending time posting something that will be ignored...
CBz
Additional Reading: http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/iodine-products-can-y...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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What's amazing is that most folks are treating this like an ostrich sticking it's head in a hole. This is the real deal. I'm really trying here to give firefighters heads up to get things together, including a plan of action and a source to at least get started with understanding what may hit their community.
No one knows really what's going to happen and the sad thing is that the law enforcement community will know way in advance of any pending or potential threat to the USA. Fire departments get their information filtered down from federal law enforcement levels. It's safe to say that one better make sure they have friends in law enforcement...
Your information and insight are very much appreciated. I look forward to reading and bookmarking your references. Stay safe!
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Looks like these meters are set up to check for beta particles. Beta can pass through paper and plastic, thus the cellophane wraps protecting the probes. Beta particles can easily be washed off the skin with soap and water. They should not be ingested or inhaled, however. That's how they can enter the body and potentially cause chronic health problems at the cellular level. Gamma in low doses passes through our bodies as high frequency waves and does no harm.
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Do your answers match up with mine?
1. Looks like gamma radiation because the monitoring probes are covered with plastic.
2. Face, Hands, Crotch and Feet
3. Decontamination, (1) victim* does not have a disposable mouth and nose filter mask.
* I mention this to bring up the importance of having plenty of disposable masks to protect patients airways immediately upon contact. This alone may save lives in event of a blast zone with contaminated dust for example, e.g. WTC.
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Permalink Reply by abe yerdon on
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well you seem well versed in the radiation field, which is good. but you should also know, and put out that in reality by the time any radioactive cloud hit the west coast of the united states from japan it would be so diluted that it would pose little impact to the general public. Much the same as chernobyl did not pose a health risk to the general public by the time the fallout was able to reach the united states.
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Permalink Reply by Oneness on
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beta can pass through plastic if it's thin enough and the energy level is strong enough, just like gamma can pass through lead. I'm not saying they can't measure any beta, what I'm saying is they're attenuating the readings, and I'm sure it's being done intentionally on some level.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Oneness,
You suggest the plastic might be intentionally attenuating the readings; could the reason for this be that the residents nearest the plant(s) are expected to have the highest readings and the reason for the attenuation is to
a) eliminate those exposures below a certain threshold and b) because of the expected high readings the audio output (cpm) might cause an unnecessary panic?
In other words, is the plastic being used as a filter to identify only those with the highest beta exposure. Or could this be a first stage "decon" where those exposed to gamma are being first singled out?
Since Mike posted the discussion(s) it's been bugging me why the monitoring probes are covered in plastic.
Mike, your thoughts (or answer) on this?
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Chernobyl verses Japan, What's different? It's called the "Jet Stream"...
The prevailing jet stream winds are blowing from Japan directly across the Pacific ocean to the west coast of the United States. Any airborne radioactive Fallout would make its way across with the jet stream, reaching the U.S. in approximately 36 hours, depending on the actual speed of the jet and how quickly the particles mixed in with the jetstream.
Image of the Jet Stream from Japan to the U.S.
What else is different here? Can you say (4) four reactors, not (1) one?
While you and others are waving as flag telling everyone that there is nothing to worry about may be fine for the general public. This is what we tell them. This is what I have told folks in the past through media announcements as a PIO. I get it trust me. But... this is the FFN. Presumably, a place where real firefighters get together and share information. While this incident continues to evolve, it makes no sense to me at all to not be proactive, making contingency plans for worst case scenarios, not playing things down.
If things go south, and you are not prepared, life can be more difficult, This is even more critical for firefighter families where the mother, father or both may be committed to working should things go bad. You will not have the time nor luxury to stock up on things, and for lack of better words, preparing yourself for something that could be an issue.
My bottom line here Abe is to first off get the FFN membership to think about radiation hazards, monitor usage and staying informed should problems arise.
One way to accomplish this is to go to a blog website I found that discusses this subject in far more detail.
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/nuclear/west-coast-usa-danger-if-japa...
There is a website called the Radiation Network that is updated every minute and displays radiation levels in the continental USA. This is an example of the display map on the site. Again, interesting information to enable one to know what is going on to enable appropriate fact-driven decision making...
CBz
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Radiation General Information Review
Units of Measurement (Radiation)
1 rad = 0.01 gray (Gy)
1 rem = 0.01 sievert (Sv)
1 gray (Gy) = 100 rad
1 sievert (Sv) = 100 rem
Rad and Gray are ‘absorbed dose’ units.
Rem and Sievert are ‘equivalent dose’ units.
Why a Rem and a Sievert?
They relate to biological damage done to human tissue and factor the differences between types of radiation. A multiplication factor is used that represents the ‘effective’ biological damage of a given type of radiation. This is the main reason for these units – to factor the differences in damage this is caused from one type of radiation to the next.
Radiation Factor (QF Quality Factor)
(1) Beta
(1) Gamma
(1) X-ray
(10) Nuetron
(20) Alpha
For example, the list above shows that a ‘rad’ or ‘gray’ unit of ‘Alpha’ energy that is absorbed by soft human tissue does 20 times more damage than a ‘rad’ or ‘gray’ of Gamma, X-ray or Beta radiation.
Measuring Radiation with a Geiger Counter CPM
What is CPM?
CPM (counts per minute) is a measure of radioactivity, a unit of measurement for a Geiger counter. Technically, “It is the number of atoms in a given quantity of radioactive material that are detected to have decayed in one minute.”
Most Geiger counters are calibrated to Cs137 (Cesium).
1,200 CPM on the meter (for Cs137) is about 1 mR/hr (milliRad per hour).
120 CPM on the meter (for Cs137) is about 1 uSv/hr (microSievert per hour).
How many CPM of radiation is bad?
Answer: It depends on how long you are exposed at any given level.
Radiation Dosage
Radiation dosage is a measure of the risk of biological harm that the tissues receive in the body.
The unit of absorbed radiation dose is the sievert (Sv). Since one sievert is a large quantity, radiation doses normally encountered are expressed in milliSievert (mSv) or microSievert (µSv) which are one-thousandth or one millionth of a sievert. For example, one chest X-ray will give about 0.2 mSv of radiation dose.
On average, our annual radiation exposure due to all natural sources is about 300 milliRem, which is equivalent to 3 milliSieverts (3 mSv). Adding man-made sources (medical procedures, and others) the average annual U.S. radiation dose is about 600 milliRem, which is equivalent to 6 milliSieverts (6 mSv).
Average annual human exposure to radiation (U.S.)
600 milliRem (mRem)
6 milliSievert (mSv)
Radiation dose for increase cancer risk of 1 in a 1,000
1,250 milliRem (mRem)
12.5 milliSievert (mSv)
Earliest onset of radiation sickness
75,000 milliRem (mRem)
750 milliSievert (mSv)
Onset of radiation poisoning
300,000 milliRem (mRem)
3,000 milliSievert (mSv)
Expected 50% death from radiation
400,000 milliRem (mRem)
4,000 milliSievert (mSv)
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If you don't find "Shibuyaeggman" on the International Atomic Energy Agency's list of Japanese nuclear power stations, that's because "Eggman" is a dance club for indie and underground bands in the Toyko district of "Shibuya." Sounds like a fun place to drink, have fun, and not evacuate due to a nuclear melt down.
As always, it's important to remember that you can't always believe what you read, see or hear through media sources.
CBz
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Permalink Reply by Wade Seely on
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Cap. Bzy,
Thanks for writing this post and to the responses. They are very informative. I have worked with some forms of radiation over the yrs, mostly in hospital settings, and understand that in smaller amounts it can still be harmful do to cumulative expouser to the radiation. I look forward to more posts on this subject.
TCSS
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Some media outlets may downplay the seriousness, or potential of the situation, which I strongly disagree with. On the other hand, other media outlets may overplay it, pushing end-of-the-world scenarios. Of the former, because they may feel their viewers/listeners/readers, being of much lesser intelligence, may panic needlessly. Of the latter, they may overplay the dangers to meet with specific (usually unclear or unstated) agendas.
Sadly many people seem to be in one camp or the other: too damn stupid to care, learn or discover or; too damn paranoid, conspiracy theory oriented and impatiently waiting for the end of the world.
It's ironic that, in a nation were we are regularly *warned* of snow and rainstorms (both of which are natural, expected and seasonal events) as though they were harbingers of either a rapidly approaching ice age or a flood to drown the world; where we are regularly warned (during the warmer months) of storms that may produce "dangerous lightening" (as if there were another kind), that clear, concise and accurate reporting of real events are handled half-assed or altogether dismissed.
Why is this? Turn on your TV. It's hard NOT to find some variant of a *reality* show on TV. This includes Maury, Survivor, Idol, Jersey Shore and the rest of their ilk. The american public has willingly and obligingly dumbed themselves down. To the extent that many can not understand the news, its ramifications or consequences. An example: The buying out of potassium iodine for a situation that presently doesn't warrant it and in the event ONLY protects one glandular system from one specific radiation threat. Yet how many people are out there right now both stockpiling and taking KI without any idea of what,why or how or it works? Probably all of them.
So instead, learn about polar shift, planet-X, the Mayan calendar, armageddon,
solar flares, UFO's, UN conspiracy, the triad, the new world order, the loch ness monster, big foot, chupacubra, why evolution is false, soylent green, the gay agenda and how a pill can help you be thin without dieting or exercise. Yeah...science is a lost art. According to Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
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Ok, I picked some more informed brains at work today. The Detector is from a Japanese manufacture and is a gamma detector with a sodium iodide crystal probe with a special material window. The window is there for measuring much smaller levels of gamma, which they obviously aren't concerned with do to the magnitude of the release. So the bags, thankfully, is a non issue. I had thought it might be that type of gamma detector at first, but all the ones I've ever seen needed liquid nitrogen and where germanium crystals(hence the LN).I never seen a hand held version like that before.
Well, I'll continue to pick some physicists and engineers brains and pass on anything useful.
Meanwhile, as everyone is busy watching another country get invaded, this is what has happened:
(NaturalNews) Here's the latest on the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan:
• Releases of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant are "now significant and continuing" said Andre-Claude Lacoste, said the head of France's Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). (http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest...)
• A "grayish smoke" cloud was observed coming from the roof of Reactor No. 3, causing an evacuation of all the workers there while Japanese authorities figure out if it's safe to return the workers to the site. It was called an "alarming setback" and provides further evidence of a worsening problem with Reactor No. 3 (where the MOX plutonium fuel is stored). (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...)
• Radioactive contamination has now likely reached to a 100km radius around the Fukushima power plant.
• WHO admits that the radiation leaks from Fukushima are far worse than what the public has so far been told (http://www.speroforum.com/a/50605/W...).
• Power cables have so far been physically rigged to all six reactors, but only one or two coolant pumps are working so far.
• Abnormal levels of radiation continue to be found in Japanese food and milk products.
• The World Bank reports that Japan will need to spend $235 billion to rebuild after the Fukushima disaster. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...) Note: Japan currently owns over $800 billion in U.S. debt and may start selling off some of that debt to pay for its rebuilding efforts.
• Two of the six reactors are now considered placed in "cold shutdown," meaning they pose very little risk of further escalations. Reactor No. 3, on the other hand, still poses a threat of what experts are now calling "re-criticality." (A fuel rod meltdown.)
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