Friday, November 22, 2013

New Fukushima Radiation Release Estimates



Combined Air & Sea Releases

This is one of the questions we are asked the most, “how much radiation was released from Fukushima”.

Many of the estimates out there are old initial estimates of the meltdown phase and do not include radiation releases over the years.

In our effort to answer this question we found a wide variety of research and estimates.

 With time researchers were able to use other tools and testing to create a better idea about how much has been released.

These estimate ranges are presented to give an idea of the broad range of official estimates and are not a specific scientific study. What these widely divergent estimates show is that there is a need for more honest and accurate study of this issue.

Fukushima Vs. Chernobyl
We looked at these two disasters since they are frequently compared to each other. The extremely high levels, all in petabecquerels are problematic even if there is a considerable difference between the two.

Fukushima Releases To The Air
These numbers were established by using the range of estimates that were either “all radiation”  or at least included cesium 137 and iodine 131 for the initial phase of the disaster. The estimates for the years following the accident are based on TEPCO’s admitted hourly release rates. These totals are for the time period through December 12, 2013
Air high:   16886 Pbq
Air low:         900 Pbq

Fukushima Releases To The Sea
These numbers include initial releases and also over time releases based on oceanography institute estimates. These totals are for the time period through December 12, 2013
Sea high:     960 Pbq
Sea low:       520 Pbq

*does not include radiation that escaped via air but fell into the sea or that washed out to sea via rivers.

Fukushima Combined Releases To Sea & Air

Combined high: 17846 Pbq (74.5% of total inventory at the plant)
Combined low:     1420 Pbq (5.9% of total inventory at the plant)

Chernobyl Release Estimates
The release estimates provided by UNSCEAR were used for comparison.
Air:               8385 Pbq
Sea:                 20 Pbq
Combined:  8405 Pbq

NOTE:  There is much more data available on this site, linked in Post Subject. 

 March 25, 2011 Dr Helmut Hirsh of Greenpeace Germany released a statement that, according to analysis of radiation released to date, has reclassified Fukushima at Level 7, comparable to Chernobyl.

April 11, 2011 TEPCO reluctantly admitted that Fukushima was now a Level 7, the worst possible.  However, nobody disputes that it is multiple times worse than Chernobyl, yet there isn't any higher measurement.  If TEPCO had admitted it sooner, would people have taken other precautionary measures?

The total amount of radionuclides iodine-131 and caesium-137 released since the start of the accident until March 23rd 2011 is so high that they are equal to three class 7 accidents.  and it continues until stopped.

Chernobyl had one nuclear reactor and only 3 months of radiation while Fukushima has failures at four nuclear reactors which hold about 1,000 times more radiation than the bombs at Hiroshima, and 40 years of improper nuclear storage and numerous smaller nuclear events.  All federal agencies that regulate radioactive exposures agree that any radiation exposure raises the cancer risk.  But it isn't JUST cancer, RADIATION EXPOSURE  effects your entire health profile.

Chernobyl took aggressive action after only 10 days of burning out of control.  They dumped tons of sand and Boron and began entombment procedures.  TEPCO worsend the nuclear disaster by adding salt water!  Are they that incompetent, do they believe the laws of chemistry cease to exist in Japan, or is there something more deliberate going on?  Is this really about protecting future profits?

You can know what radiation is in your food, soils or environment by checking with Geiger Counters and Dosimeters

Or assume, as I do, that everything is potentially contaminated and will be for thousands of years.  Why not take every health precaution possible to minimize radiation effects?
 

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