fukushima nuclear disaster - japan radiation poisioning
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FukushimaTRANSCRIPT
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2/28/2015 FukushimaNuclearDisasterJapanRadiationPoisioning
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6616/whatthosefukushimaradiationcountsreallymeananalysis5719140/ 1/13
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Radiation safety expert Andrew Karam has written for Popular Mechanics aboutwhat went wrong at Fukushima and how Japan reacted to the emergency. Now he'sjust back from a trip to Japan, where he took radiation detectors to assess thecontamination levels himself. Not all radiation measurements are created equal, soKaram walks us through what the numbers, and the different radiation units, reallymean.
What Those Fukushima Radiation Counts ReallyMean: Analysis
MAY 10, 2011
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2/28/2015 FukushimaNuclearDisasterJapanRadiationPoisioning
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6616/whatthosefukushimaradiationcountsreallymeananalysis5719140/ 2/13
By Andrew Karam
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2/28/2015 FukushimaNuclearDisasterJapanRadiationPoisioning
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6616/whatthosefukushimaradiationcountsreallymeananalysis5719140/ 3/13
Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
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2/28/2015 FukushimaNuclearDisasterJapanRadiationPoisioning
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AsanyonewhofollowsthecrisisattheFukushimanuclearplantknows,therehavebeenanumberofradiationstatistics,expressedinvariousunits,comingfromdifferentsourcesincludingorganizationsliketheInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency(IAEA),whichreleasedregularupdatesofradiationlevels.TheIAEAmadeitclearthatlevelsfurtherawayfromthereactorsitearenotdangerouslyhigh,butasascientistandaformerNavynuclearpowertechnician,Iwascurioustolearnmorefirsthand.SoIwenttoJapan,whereItraveledwithinabout12milesofthereactors,andspentnearlytwoweekstakingmyownmeasurementsusingseveraldifferenttools.
Whenitcomestohumanhealth,radiationsafetyprofessionalsareconcernedwithmorethanjustoverallradiationoutput.First,wecareaboutradiationdose:theamountofradioactiveenergydepositedinanobjectorperson.ThisismeasuredinradsintheU.S.andinGraysintheSIunitsystem.
Secondly,weworryaboutthekindofradiation.Justasabowlingballcausesmoredamagethanatennisball,sometypesofradiation(alphaparticlesorneutrons,forexample)causemorebiologicaldamagethanothers(suchasbetaorgammaradiation).Themoredangeroustypesofradiationhaveahigherrelativebiologicaleffectiveness(RBE)level.Theunitofmeasurecalledremormillirem(orSievertinSIunits),whichyou'veprobablyheardmentionedduring
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We RecommendOBAMA'S ENERGY GURU ON AMERICA'S NUCLEAR FUTURE
coverageofFukushima,takesRBEintoaccount.Therefore,remmeasuresnotjustradiationdose,butalsothebiologicalharmthatradiationcancause.Mostradiationworkersarelimitedto2000millirem(mrem)peryearandupto25,000mremduringemergencieswebegintoseeradiationsicknessat100,000mrem.Bycomparison,mostofusreceiveabout300mremannuallyfromnaturalradiation,andasinglewholebodyCTscanwillgiveusabout2000mrem.IntheareasofJapanIvisited,radiationdoserateswereelevatedtoaboutthreetofourtimestypicalnaturalradiationdoserates(whichareabout.1mremperhour),butnowherenearashighasnaturalradiationlevelsI'vemeasuredinpartsofIran.
Finally,radiationexpertsalsosurveyhowmuchradioactivecontaminationapersonorobjecthasreceived,measuredincountsperminute(cpm)orindecaysperminute(dpm).(Contaminationiswhenradioactivityappearswhereit'snotwantedsortoflikedust.)Despitethedoomandgloomassociatedwiththeterminpopularparlance,however,whatradiationsafetyexpertsarereferringtowhenwesay"contamination"israrelyharmful.Becauseit'sameasureofhowmuchradiationhadaccumulatedonyou,itgoesdownwhenyoucleanup.IthinkofitlikechangingadiaperIdon'twanttogetcontaminated,butifIdo,Ijustwashitoffandgoonwithmyday.Japaneseofficialsaresurveyingpeopleleavingtheaffectedareas,andanyonewithmorethan100,000cpmofcontaminationisaskedtochangeclothes(whichremovesupto90percentofthecontamination)andpossiblytoshower.Assoonastheircontaminationlevelsarebelowthisnumber,they'reapprovedtogo.
Sowithallthesedifferentkindsofdata,whatgeardoyouneedtomaketherightmeasurements?Therearetwofundamentaltypesofradiationinstrumentsthosethatmeasureonlythenumberoftimesradiationinteractswiththedetector,andthosethatmeasuretheamountofenergydeposited.TheGeigerMuellertube(theGeigercounter),probablythemostwidelyknownradiationinstrument,fallsintothefirstcategory.Geigercounterscanmeasurealpha,betaandgammaradiation,makingthemthemostversatilekindofradiationdetector,buttheyaretypicallyusedto
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2/28/2015 FukushimaNuclearDisasterJapanRadiationPoisioning
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6616/whatthosefukushimaradiationcountsreallymeananalysis5719140/ 6/13
measurecontaminationonly.That'sbecauseanormalGeigercountercan'tdistinguishbetweenhighandlowenergyradiationeverythinglooksthesametoit.It'slikeholdingahandfulofrocks,pebblesandgrainsofsandandsimplycountingeveryobject:Asinglegrainofsandcountsthesameasarock,eventhoughweknowthatrocksarelargerandweighmore.SoGeigercountersaregreatformeasuringcontamination,butnotsogreatatmeasuringradiationdoserate,thebiologicalpartoftheequation.
Gettingattheradiationdoseraterequiresmeasuringtheamountofenergydepositedbytheradiationand,therefore,requiresdifferentequipment.Anionchambermeasurestheenergydepositedinamassofairbymeasuringtheamountofelectricalcharge(whichisrelatedtoionization)thatoccursinthechamber.Ionizationchamberscandirectlymeasureradiationdoseratetoafairlyhighdegreeofaccuracy.
Anotherwaytomeasureradiationdoserateistouseadevicecalledascintillationcounteradetectorthatusesacrystal,suchassodiumiodide.Whenradiationinteractswiththecrystal,thecrystalemitslight,andtheamountoflightemittedisproportionaltotheenergydepositedinthecrystal(theradiationdose).Scintillationdetectorscanmeasurebothcountrate(contamination)anddoserate.Thedrawbackisthatscintillationcounterscanusuallymeasureonlyonetypeofradiation(alpha,betaor,inthecaseofsodiumiodide,gamma).Buttheymeasureitverywell.AndthoughGeigercountersaren'tintendedforradiationdoseratemeasurements,theycandoitinspecialcircumstancesiftheotherdetectorsaren'tavailable.OnekindofGeigercountercalledanenergycompensatedGMadjustsfordifferentenergiesofradiation.Ifoneofthoseisnotaround,aconversionchartcancorrectwhattheGeigercountersaystowhatthedoseratereallyis.
InJapanIhadanumberofinstrumentswithme.Oneisatypeofscintillationcounterthat'ssetuptoidentifyspecificradionuclidesbymeasuringtheenergyofthegammarayphotonsitseesaprocesscalledgammaspectroscopy.ThiswayIwasabletoidentifylonglastingisotopesofcesium,likeCs134andCs137,thatcamefromFukushima.Butnearlyalloftheradioactiveiodinewhichhadbeenaconcernearlyonhasdecayedawaybynow,soIcouldnotdetectanyofit.IhadapressurizedionchambertomeasureradiationdoserateatthelowlevelsofexposuredetectedinJapan.IalsocarriedaregularionchamberandanenergycompensatedGMincasedoseratesbecomehigherthanwhatthepressurizedionchamberwillread,butwewerenotexposedtoanylevelofradiationhighenoughto
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P O P U L A R M E C H A N I C S M A R K E T P L A C E
01. Radiation Effects
02. Radiation Meter
03. Radiation Protection Aprons
04. Types of Radiation
05. Radiation Protection Products
06. Personal Radiation Detectors
07. Nuclear Radiation Monitor
08. Radiation Shields
09. Radiation Suits
SHARE 208 TWEET 14 PIN EMAIL
needeitherone.(Mytotalradiationexposure12milliremisalmostentirelyduetoairtravel.)Finally,I'vealwaysgotmyInstadoseadevicethatIcanplugintomylaptopcomputertoreadmydosedirectly.Ihavetoadmit,carryingalloftheseinstrumentsaroundstartedtowearonmyshoulder(andexplainingthemtoairportsecuritywasachallenge).Buttheinformationtheyprovideisinterestingenoughtomakethebotherworthwhile.
AndrewKaramhasover30yearsofexperienceinhealthphysics(radiationsafety),beginningwithaneightyearstintasamechanicaloperatorandradiationsafetyspecialistintheNavy.Sincethen,KaramhasworkedfortheStateofOhio,theOhioStateUniversity,theUniversityofRochesterandasaprivateconsultant.Heistheauthoroffivebooksandanupcomingeightpartseries,ControversiesinScience.HecurrentlylivesinNewYorkCity,whereheworksonissuesrelatedtoourresponsetoradiologicalandnuclearemergencies.Checkouthiswebsite.
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JohnDiponzioThankyou!ReplyLikeFollowPostMarch24,2014at10:55am
FredrickMboma TopCommenterIimportusedcarsfromJapan.Myquestionsare:
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1.Docarstrap(iebecomecontaminatedby)nuclearradiationfromFukushima?2.Ifyes,forhowlongcansuchradiationstayincars,andinwhatparts?3.Whatwouldbethebestwayanddevice(s)tomeasureit?
IhavenotedRussiahasbannedsomecarsduetoradiationcontamination.Thenewsisherehttp://rt.com/news/japanrussiafukushimacars201/ReplyLikeFollowPostMarch4,2014at1:52pm
SteveBowerGraceDavisHighSchoolThankyouReplyLikeFollowPostJanuary10,2014at6:28am
CenaLombardiRobertoMassimo TopCommenterUniversitDiTorinoThereminoGeiger&MCAkits.
Youcanbuildorbuyasensibleandcheap#thereminoGeigerorMCAhwkit.Lookathttp://www.theremino.com/contacts/pricelist.
The#theremino#radioactivitymoduleshavemillivoltripple.LookattheelusivePotassiumK40inthegammaspectrumhttp://www.theremino.com/blog/gammaspectrometry/images.
Thanksforyourattention,RobertoCena
TheThereminoteam.ReplyLike FollowPostFebruary15,2013at6:22pm1
FredrickMboma TopCommenterIimportusedcarsfromJapan.Myquestionsare:
1.Docarstrap(iebecomecontaminatedby)nuclearradiationfromFukushima?2.Ifyes,forhowlongcansuchradiationstayincars,andinwhatparts?3.Whatwouldbethebestwayanddevice(s)tomeasureit?
IhavenotedRussiahasbannedsomecarsduetoradiationcontamination.Thenewsisherehttp://rt.com/news/japanrussiafukushimacars201/ReplyLikeMarch4,2014at1:53pm
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