Fukushima radiation spill: should we worry?

[Doc Safari]

Every other day or so I seem to accidentally run across some article somewhere that either the radiation from Fukushima should worry us all enough to take iodine pills, or at the very least don't eat the tuna from California, or something.

Is all of this just scarifying, or do you think there is a real danger of radiation poisoning the Pacific Ocean, making the food supply unsafe, or otherwise dangering the health of Americans?

Any radioactivity SME's out there?

[decodeddiesel]

Every other day or so I seem to accidentally run across some article somewhere that either the radiation from Fukushima should worry us all enough to take iodine pills, or at the very least don't eat the tuna from California, or something.

Is all of this just scarifying, or do you think there is a real danger of radiation poisoning the Pacific Ocean, making the food supply unsafe, or otherwise dangering the health of Americans?

Any radioactivity SME's out there?

The issue is that the whole thing is being handled by some very tight lipped Japanese government officials. These folks have demonstrated time and time again during this crisis they are very much trying to downplay the severity of the situation, and are not exactly forth coming about the specifics of the various spills (type, quantity, etc.). Without this knowledge it is difficult, if not impossible to say one way or another what sort of danger exists.

I know for a fact the US Navy is doing a lot to monitor the levels of radiation in the water and what is coming our way for what it's worth. If all we are talking about is the release of "heavy water" the danger is low/non-existent. If we add in fission bi-products such as iodine, caesium, and strontium the danger goes up significantly, however given the concentration levels in the Pacific ocean, and our distance from Japan the danger is still very very low. Now, if we're talking about contamination resulting from core material, that's a whole different story.

Keep in mind that Chernobyl was a far far worse disaster with respect to the type of radioactive material released, as well as the engine it was released by (massive hydrogen/steam explosion). How does it impact your day to day life?

[J-Dub]

Should we worry? Really??????

Hell yes we should worry. That thing has been dumping radioactive water in the ocean since it melted down.

[whiterabbit05]

We're all gonna be fked. Especially Hawaii.

[BoringGuy45]

If a giant radioactive breath dinosaur starts attacking our coastline, I'll worry.

[Honu]

We're all gonna be fked. Especially Hawaii.

according to my buds who even fish ahi in the islands say the fish have no higher levels like all the articles are saying are happening ? a few early on in a few spots had sleight levels but nothing worry about

and according to some others the decay rate etc.. should not be a big issue much outside but I bet the local waters are like a hot tub nice and warm and you would stay warm and glowy

most likely its going to be more a local issue ? but who knows for sure

I dont trust gov of any country to much these days

[Javelin]

Heck yeah this is some serious crap being pumped into the ocean which will radiate all of our napa and Sonoma wine region as grapes soak everything up

[Moose-Knuckle]

72,000 of gallons of radioactive water being pumped into the Pacific ocean everyday with a half-life of millions of years . . . what's there to worry about?!

[Hmac]

We're all gonna be fked. Especially Hawaii.

I'm feeling pretty safe here in Minnesota. When it shows up in Lake Superior, then I'll worry.

[decodeddiesel]

72,000 of gallons of radioactive water being pumped into the Pacific ocean everyday with a half-life of millions of years . . . what's there to worry about?!

I understand a lot of folks do not understand the finer points of the physics involved with the radioactive material. If the whole nature of this thread is to start a Chicken Little "the sky is falling" panic with complete disregard for actual facts then have at it.

There are three main contaminates in the leaked water, which are fission bi-products that occur when Uranium 235 is consumed in a nuclear reactor. Caesium-137 which has a half life of 30 years, Caesium-134 which has a half life of 2 years, and Strontium-90 which also has a half life of about 30 years.

Yes, TEPCO has admitted as recently as the end of August that they estimate 300 tons of contaminated water is making it's way into the Pacific each day. That is a scary number. However, the thing to keep in mind here is that the water being released has such low radio activity you could literally drink a glass of it and only get the equivalent dose of one year of normal background radiation. That's all. It doesn't glow green, it's not exothermic (produces heat), it won't kill you ala K-19, etc.

The Japanese and our government are closely monitoring fish caught in contaminated areas, and NOAA has people who do nothing but monitor ocean currents that are carrying the radio active pollution.

A few years ago I toured the site at Chernobyl. I didn't wear a big radiation suit. I didn't have to go through some decontamination procedure. Yes, there are some places near the reactor hall and in Prypiat you wouldn't want to spend more than a couple of minutes at, however this is due to actual core material (read Uranium and Plutonium) which was ejected and could not be fully cleaned up. All of the fission bi-products I mentioned earlier, Caesium, Strontium, Iodine, etc. have decayed to the point to where the effects are negligible.

Feel free to disregard my post and carry on with the panic mongering.

ETA:

Proof radioactivity is not some scary silent monster...