Once again, Vermont’s own Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates is stepping in to the analysis void in order to explain the science of radiation and some of the terminology we have been hearing with regard to its release at Fukushima Daiichi.
Arnie has provided a concise and manageable reference for the average person grappling with an unfamiliar and frightening subject. For that I am very grateful.
I appreciate the effort that it takes to provide these.
Thank you sir.
Keep them coming.
Norm
to you and your wife for your dedication to informing others of these related topics.
I hear a lot of people dismissing the radioactive Iodide because it only “lasts 8 days” – this is untrue, as you so ably described.
More importantly, while it will have complete the decay process in ~80 days, that’s 80 days from the day it’s released. Every day that more iodide-131 is released, moves the 80 day window out by a day. The plant has now been releasing radioactive iodide for 7 days, which means 87 days of potential exposure. If it takes six months to get to the point where the plant is no longer releasing iodide-131, then exposure time is 267 days – or nearly 9 months.
People need to remember that the thyroid glands (of children, in particular), are at risk from this catastrophe until 80 days after the plant is brought under control and the radioactive iodide release stops. The clock keeps ticking.
Of course, that’s ONLY the iodide. The other nasties (cesium, strontium, etc.) will pose their own threats for 10 half-lives from the date the release stops.
Anyone who sees posts or comments using the “bad math” of half-life from initial power plant failure = end of problem should really take a minute to correct the error. There are many
trollsindustry shills out there trying to create a false impression about the duration of risk – both by using bad math, and by implying that the iodide’s half-life is the half-life of all the isotopes in question. Let’s not let them get away with it.I’d like to see Mr. Gunderson give an explanation of what a millisievert or 10 or 100 millisieverts means in terms of human health, and what the exposure situation is at various distances from the Fukushima plant.
Of course, we don’t know yet what elements they are dealing with, and in what proportions, but I read that in some areas around the plant a person could exceed an annual recommended maximum dosage in a few hours or a few days.
How much do people actually know?
What he did explain was clear and informative – no complaints about that.