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stupid, but news .... (?)

Govt plans detailed radiation monitoring

The Japanese government will conduct a detailed survey of radiation levels in Fukushima and use the data to review existing evacuation orders and advisories.

In a meeting held on Monday, the government decided to take charge of all radiation surveys being conducted separately by ministries, localities and the operator of the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant.

All data will be collated by the education and science ministry and made public through a dedicated website.

A more detailed survey of radiation will begin later in July, with measurements to be taken every 2 square kilometers inside the no-entry zone and other areas where evacuation is advised.

Priority will be given to schools and streets frequented by children. The government plans to compile a database by the end of August before the children return to school.

Nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono has said that he hopes to begin studies around July 17th on whether to cancel one of the advisories that require residents to be prepared for evacuation in case of an emergency.

July 17th is the date when the nuclear plant operator is due to complete the first step of its 2-stage plan to put the crippled reactors under control.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011 10:41 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

45% of kids in Fukushima survey had thyroid exposure to radiation

TOKYO, July 5, Kyodo

Around 45 percent of children in Fukushima Prefecture surveyed by the local and central governments in late March experienced thyroid exposure to radiation, although in all cases in trace amounts that did not warrant further examination, officials of the Nuclear Safety Commission said Tuesday.

The survey was conducted on 1,080 children aged 0 to 15 in Iwaki, Kawamata and Iitate on March 26-30 in light of radiation leakages from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crippled after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Separately, a survey of soil at four locations in the city of Fukushima on June 26 found that all samples were contaminated with radioactive cesium, measuring 16,000 to 46,000 becquerels per kilogram and exceeding the legal limit of 10,000 becquerels per kg, citizens groups involved said Tuesday. english.kyodonews.jp

Hi, @all. It's been quite a while. Cheers to everybody.
Thanks, @Edano...
>> 45% of kids in Fukushima survey had thyroid exposure to radiation - Kyodonews
Even though only in "trace amounts", still the findings do seem to indicate that the children were not favored with adequate protective/preventive measures early on. And this is a critical piece of public health shortcoming, for me.

@Alblee if they had evacuated the fuku kids in time, they would not have any internal exposure. there is no "trace amount of radiation".

@Edano, might it be possible to trace the original Nihongo term that was translated as "trace amount" in that English news story?
When I saw the English version using that term, I muttered to myself, what trace amount... This isn't a situation where you are saying a certain food product was produced in equipment used for, say, biscuits, and could contain trace amounts of margarine.

Thanks, @Edano.

@Edano, re: liquefaction concerns... much of Kanto is in a plains region, right? Thanks.

@Alblee : the article says it is not limited to costal areas.

@Edano, you're right it's too late now (reckoning from the March exposure) but I also happen to be thinking eactly what you're thinking, that they might continue to be exposed and, hence, some protective measure -- like potassium iodide prophylaxis at some age- or body mass-appropriate dose -- should be given across the board. That's why I had said it was a shortcoming, a very serious public health shortcoming.

@Edano, and which is why I also look up the following link:
www.city.kawasaki.jp
to check out the waterworks reading near Kawasaki City for radio Iodine and radio Cesium levels, thinking that it could be a trigger/alert indicator for a sprawling greater metropolitan area that's home to millions -- and this is where the heartbeat of Japan pulses.

lets make a little math: 120 days since the explosions makes 120/8 = 15 half lives.
assuming that there was no additional iodine exposure, the now measured "trace amount" of 0.1 uSv/h sums up to 3276.8 uSv/h, which is far beyond any limit - even for adults.
additionally, you have to calculate the biological half time of iodine, which is about 64 days:

"About 55% of the131I tracer dose are metabolized in humans with a BHL of 64 days (mean, range: 39–122 days) during the organic iodine phase." www.springerlink.com

this means we can conclude a worst case scenario of 4 times 3 mSv/h =12 mSv/h at the time of the explosions. worst case means in this case, that there was only the one exposure during the explosions. so, this is the real meaning of "trace amounts". this is only what's left from the big disaster.

@Alblee thnx. So I've actually been on this board for about a month now, on and off... but it takes a lot of time to canvas all the posts, especially with all the varying timezones.

@Darren : you are right: the temperatures have risen in all 3 reactors by about 10° C. you can see it in the reactor graphs: www.houseoffoust.com

@Darren : for example: nearly all readings for #1 were well below 100°, now they are all above 100°.

@Darren no, they reduced cooling in all 3 reactors. they even did not fill up the spent fuel pool in #4 anymore, so the water level is there only about 350 mm above the rods .... this is dangerously low.

@Darren, methinks the answer to that would be, 'it depends'. It might depend on the prevailing state of that specific reactor's water exchange and heat exchange environment. Much of the local transients seem to be occurring in a touch-and-go kind of scenario. Things look quite difficult-to-predict from where we sit. That's why, whatever else I may think about the quality of brainpower deployed at the Tepco crisis war room, those guys deserve some benefit of the doubt in trying to grab this Fukushima bull by the horn.

From @Darren:
> OK so here's a question - if the flow of water into one of the reactors decreased from
> 3.7 tons/hour to 3 tons/hour, shouldn't the temperature have risen slightly?

@Alblee : yes, they gave personal body dosimeters to children - but guess what ? - they have no display !!!!! so they will be recollected, secretly analysed and then eventually handed out. the parents will not know the exposure of their child !

[Thanks, @Edano. Ugh, that's not only bigtime sloppy, but really bigtime naughty. For a nation with such technological prowess, this is something that could be hardwired into a live database/monitoring system. Throw in GPS, as well, heck. - Alblee]