Sciclone 2 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Hi All, By now everyone is probably sick of hearing about it, but I wanted to ask the question... I know the radiation level in Nagano is currently sitting at a ~0.044 microsierverts per hour (Half that of NY or Berlin), but has the snow increased the radiation readings at all? (BTW if you're wondering, here's the link http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/monitoring_by_prefecture_environmental_radioactivity_level_prefecture/2011/12/24807/index.html Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 There's no snow here, so I would not know! Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yes, perhaps we could let you know that when we actually get some..... snow! Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It does look pretty, actually. Not sure where this photo was taken, looks like it might perhaps be Niseko. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
nippontiger 8 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Seriously, if anything I think the snow would reduce any elevated radiation levels. The NPP at Fukushima is now releasing minimal amounts of radiation to the atmosphere so any elevated readings will be as a result of soil and dust on the ground contaminated by rain that fell shortly after the disaster. The snow will just cover up the contaminated soil and dust. Link to post Share on other sites
Sciclone 2 Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 The levels at Fukushima themselves are pretty high, but for the rest of the country they are at the same level they were before 11/3. Link to post Share on other sites
Russell's paradox 0 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 This year --- add 'green' to the colors of snow you should not eat. Full list: yellow, brown, green Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It does look pretty, actually.Not sure where this photo was taken, looks like it might perhaps be Niseko. good one Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Seriously, if anything I think the snow would reduce any elevated radiation levels. The NPP at Fukushima is now releasing minimal amounts of radiation to the atmosphere so any elevated readings will be as a result of soil and dust on the ground contaminated by rain that fell shortly after the disaster. The snow will just cover up the contaminated soil and dust. The levels at Fukushima themselves are pretty high, but for the rest of the country they are at the same level they were before 11/3. I agree with Gary that the snow should provide some shielding against the radiation coming from the ground. And in fact the ski areas in Fukushima did not get that badly hit to begin with. Link to post Share on other sites
Sciclone 2 Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 It's good to know... After Chernobl there were reports around Europe of increased radiation in the snow, but it was handled a lot worse than Fuku was. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 It's good to know... After Chernobl there were reports around Europe of increased radiation in the snow, but it was handled a lot worse than Fuku was. To clarify, there was some radioactive snow that was found late last season, after the reactor buildings blew up. But that snow has all since melted, and the reactors aren't emitting much to the atmosphere any more, so the new snow this season should be clean. Since Chernobyl happened in late April, I would guess that any contaminated snow found in Europe would have been glacier snow that was contaminated by radioactive precipitation in the early days of the accident. Link to post Share on other sites
best skier in hakuba 5 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Well, it's certainly not Hakuba!! Link to post Share on other sites
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