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You sure it's not Mt Granview?   But.. seriously.. all rather worrying isn't it. My dome idea might not have been practical but why is there not a building covering that thing up?

Todays Yomiuri

 

Cecium in Tokyo Bay?

 

文部科学省は22日、東京湾の海水の放射性物質の測定結果を初めて公表した。 川崎港の東側の湾中央部の海水を調べた結果、セシウム134が海水1リットルあたり0・0065ベクレル、セシウム137が同0・0098ベクレルで、海水浴場開設の基準となる同50ベクレルを大幅に下回った。  半減期が約2年と短いセシウム134が検出されたため、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所事故が影響しているとみられる。  今年3月に改定された政府の「総合モニタリング計画」で、様々な河川が集まる東京湾へ土壌に付いたセシウムが移動する可能性が指摘され、東京湾の海水が新たな調査対象となった。 (2012年5月22日18時51分読売新聞)

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"Soil in Tokyo would be considered nuclear waste in the US", according to Arnie in the above.

 

Someone, other than Arnie, tell me... is that bullshit?

 

What set of numbers is he quoting?

 

According to Wikipedia (must be true if it is on the internets), the lowest category of low-level nuclear waste in the US is defined as 1 Ci/m^3 of Cs-137.

 

I found an Arnie video with some numbers of soil samples he measured in Tokyo:

http://vimeo.com/38995781

 

At a quick glance, it appears the highest one he shows is 167 pCi/g, which at 1250 kg/m^3 for wet dirt would give 0.0002 Ci/m^3, between 3 and 4 orders of magnitude below the lowest category of low-level nuclear waste in the US.

 

So BS, if those are the numbers he is comparing, and if I didn't make a mistake (someone please check my numbers).

But maybe he has some other waste category, or a different soil sample measurement, in mind?

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But.. seriously.. all rather worrying isn't it. My dome idea might not have been practical but why is there not a building covering that thing up?

 

Actually, that is an old picture. They have been removing sections of the roof, to make it easier to empty out the spent-fuel pool

 

Here is what it looks like now:

 

 

 

 

gallery_6744_185_400507.jpg

 

 

 

In all seriousness, though, I can't get worked up about things that might happen any more, considering everything that has already happened. Will deal with whatever happens when it actually happens.

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:lol:

 

I'm actually a bit surprised to hear that from you Metabo Oyaji, you seemed so keen and up on chasing the facts etc. Bit worn out with it?

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Arnie certainly seems sure of himself.

 

If this danger were so massive, it is hard to believe that things weren't being done about it.

 

Hope I'm not being too simplistic.

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:lol:

 

I'm actually a bit surprised to hear that from you Metabo Oyaji, you seemed so keen and up on chasing the facts etc. Bit worn out with it?

 

I'm still interested in the details of the accident investigation, from a geekish perspective. Will be interesting to find out exactly what happened. But I don't think the site presents an imminent risk of creating further widespread contamination, and it hasn't for a long time now.

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Arnie certainly seems sure of himself.

 

That's the annoying thing with Arnie, he seems quite sure even when spouting completely unsupported nonsense.

Which is not to say that everything he says is nonsense, but just from listening to him there is no way to tell what is and what isn't.

So I just wouldn't waste time paying any attention to anything he says.

 

If this danger were so massive, it is hard to believe that things weren't being done about it.

 

Hope I'm not being too simplistic.

 

Things are being done about it. Not fast enough to satisfy everyone perhaps, but they are being done.

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I tend to believe the truth is somewhere in the middle.

There has got to be some truth to the worries and readings that are out there.

I'm just surprised that there isn't more mainstream coverage/discussion about it

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I still think they should make that big dome thing that I suggested well over a year ago.

But did they listen?

Now we have to dodge the green globs of goo on the way to work every day as a result!

:grandpa:

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There has got to be some truth to the worries and readings that are out there.

 

There is a huge amount of hot nuclear fuel sitting in a swimming pool on the fifth? floor of a building that has exploded and is located in a major earthquake zone right next to a whole load of other nuclear thingymajigs that have also blown up.

 

Another quake in Fukushima itself in the next few years is unlikely perhaps, but you could say the same about North Korea successively firing a missile. That gets blanket coverage every time they try it. I wonder how many North Korean missiles' worth of radioactive goo are sitting in that pool already in Japan and not that far from Tokyo.

 

Anyway, if something bad happens, my soutei is that they'll say it's "souteigai".

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...that by the time my old ass gets cancer from radiation I will already be at risk from so many other maladies of age it won't matter. A kid exposed now....20 years down the road...who knows, probably nothing but why risk it.

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I feel sorry for people affected by all this in Fukushima particularly - lets remember there's no borderline as such - but I sure as heck wouldn't move there.

 

Wonder how property prices etc have been affected.

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There has got to be some truth to the worries and readings that are out there.

 

The readings (I assume this means radiation measurements) are real. There has been a lot of contamination spread far and wide.

Fortunately, there is now lots of information about where it went and how much there is. For example, there are the aerial surveys found here (http://www.snowjapan...n-concerns.html) for a rough overview:

 

radmap.gif

 

For more detail, one can check town home pages for local measurements at schools and such. Participating in PTA decontamination patrols is pretty educational too, to get a feel for where the hotspots are and how hot they are likely to be relative to the center-field measurements published in the town maps. If you want to measure in detail around your house, you may be able to check out a survey meter from the city (don't know if Tokyo does that).

 

Anyway, information is power.

 

I'm just surprised that there isn't more mainstream coverage/discussion about it

 

I guess I think there has been a fair amount of coverage, though not as much lately, admittedly.

(I'm sort of wondering where most people here are getting their news, actually. Maybe that will be another thread.)

But just today there was an article in the morning paper about received-dose maps for Japan put out by the WHO, for example.

 

On the other hand, I have to admit that I searched for news items on the Unit 4 pool-collapse scenario, and didn't find much that looked like mainstream press. Personally, I suspect the spent-fuel pools at Hamaoka, Tsuruga and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa are at least as at-risk, since they are all situated on top of faults that have been identified. And really, anywhere, since this whole country is an earthquake zone, come right down to it.

 

But, if I were to let myself get worked up over every fresh possible disaster scenario, or aftershock, or tornado warning, or whatever other thing that might seem ominous but isn't actually a disaster occurring right this minute, then it would just be too much. If and when something actually happens, will deal with it then.

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Personally, I suspect the spent-fuel pools at Hamaoka, Tsuruga and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa are at least as at-risk, since they are all situated on top of faults that have been identified. And really, anywhere, since this whole country is an earthquake zone, come right down to it.

 

I too suspect they are dangerous, but presumably they were built to withstand a certain amount of shaking.

After the tsunami and the explosions, Fukushima doesn't look like it could withstand very much.

It might even be vulnerable to something Aum type nutters could pull off.

 

Anyway, storing spent fuel onsite, especially in that way, has been shown to be wildly irresponsible, so something needs to be done about it at all of the plants right now. Its far more important than a shiny new tower and whether Tokyo can get the Olympics.

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