Geoff Zeiss

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« Fukushima Daiichi: Possible damage to reactor pressure vessels at Units 2 and 3 | Main | 90% of Japanese nuclear power stations to introduce new emergency power generators »

March 30, 2011

Comments

Trina Bashore

I was wondering if you had perused this document.

http://www.meti.go.jp/press/20110319002/20110319002-2.pdf

On page 2 at 17:00 hours it gives a reading of 5055. micro/s/h. Does this translate in to 5 milli/s/h? It looks to be in ten min. increments so while not a stable number isn't it high?

I think alpha radiation can be blocked by a variety of things and maybe beta by some. How much will the workers be affected by radation if exposed to say 2.5 milli/s/h over a periods of several days?

Do Beta burns appear immediately or is their a period of latency? I thought I read that some of the burns take almost 20 days to appear?

Thanks for you time.

Geoff

Very interesting document. It looks like you're right. The reading is 5055 μSv/h, or 5.055 mSv/hr. That is very high. In Canada the recommended maximum annual exposure for the public is 1 mSv/yr, and for nuclear workers 50 mSv/yr.
The types of radiation are alpha (helium nuclei), beta (electrons and positrons), and gamma (short wavelength electromagnetic). A piece of paper can stop alpha particles, but gamma requires lead.
Radiation sickness symptoms are seen when one is exposed to approximately 1 Sv or higher over a short period of time, and symptoms can appear in a matter of hours. Long term exposure to elevated radiation levels increases the risk of cancer.

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