What If?

[Haley]

I was watching and thinking about the reactor problems in Japan. What if the melt down (s) were to occur, and what if radioactive material were released into the jet stream. Would NOAA actually issue their Radiological Warning for parts of the US?


I know I have a lot of what ifs, but just thinking out loud. I have followed the S.A.M.E. codes for a long time----actually kind of hobby, i know, pretty weird. My wife thinks its strange also, but then again she doesnt understand why I have so many radios.

I also want to say I really feel for the Japanese this event will effect them in so many ways, for many years. I am not trying to make light of their problems. Just wanted to ask this question.

In case anybody wants to look, on the NWS page under current hazards(the map), their is a FAQ. Check under the codes and colors, they have many warnings ect. without definitions. Another reason I ask the main point of my thread. Just what would the criteria be? Sorry for being long winded. Thanks for any replies or thoughts on this. Mike

 

[rdale]

They would, but there isn't enough radiation to cause that to carry here.

 

[Haley]

rdale, thanks for the response. I realize it would take more than has leaked, but I am not totally convinced the leak(s) are stopped, or over. So many conflicting reports from the Japanese government, and power companies. I have noticed though over the last several years NOAA has included many newer, non-weather related S.A.M.E. codes. Just no real definitions as to what would trigger some of them. And I do think NOAA, and the NWS serve a very important purpose. Between their websites, and broadcasts their is such a wealth of info. Its too bad a lot of people dont even know the services exist. Like my in-laws, who get all their weather info from the local media. Mike

 

[JPSan]

Fallout paranoia

Heard on the local news here in Tucson, that a local supply house has sold out complete of the IODINE pills used for treating radiation exposure in anticipation of "fallout" coming here! Talk about paranoia !

 

[Confuzzled]

That's probably the Mexican drug cartels so they can sell them on street corners for $100/pill later.

 

[BrigPilgrim]

In 1986 when the Chernobyl reactor blew, I was on a mountain in Germany near the Czech border with an air sampling unit monitoring for radiation and fallout. Most of the fallout went north toward Scandinavia, but there was a huge plume. The particles are relatively large and easy to monitor and decontaminate. I don't know at what level they trigger the warnings, but if the reactor core were to blow, and metals were showing up in air samples I am sure they will tell us it is time to bring in the dog.

From what I have read so far, the reactors did exactly what they were supposed to do in the earthquake, they shut down. The Tsunami took out the generators that power the cooling pumps. The explosions have been hydrogen gas explosions, the reactor cores have remained intact and are being flooded with seawater inside the containment vessel for cooling. With all the redundant back up systems, I am surprised the Japanese didn't have a better plan for a loss of power for cooling.

 

[newsphotog]

Heard on the local news here in Tucson, that a local supply house has sold out complete of the IODINE pills used for treating radiation exposure in anticipation of "fallout" coming here! Talk about paranoia !

Poison control centers in the USA have reported a small influx of calls regarding overdoses of iodide tablets.

 

[mass-man]

Your surprised...just like here it is all about $$$!!!

 

[Haley]

Since starting this thread a few weeks ago, quite a few things the "experts" (media,industry, ect.) said couldnt happen, have. Are the EPA standards for radionuclides what are used to issue an alert? Just curious if everyone felt the same about this disaster as they did a few weeks ago. Good, or bad. Mike

 

[rdale]

Since starting this thread a few weeks ago, quite a few things the "experts" (media,industry, ect.) said couldnt happen, have.

...such as? The "experts" said that we would detect radiation in extremely small quantities across the US. We have. The "experts" said it wouldn't even be close to the levels need to impact health. It hasn't.

What exactly did they miss?

 

[Haley]

In the begining a lot of people, "experts" said that the radiation would not even be detectable here. It has been, and I will be curious to see if the numbers go up in the weeks, and months ahead. Many people said there would be no meltdown, there is. Not at 1 reactor, but 3. Also the cooling pools at reactor number 4 are still having trouble keeping spent rods cool. Maybe Im the only one who feels things may be worse than we are being told. I guess time will tell. Mike

 

[rdale]

In the begining a lot of people, "experts" said that the radiation would not even be detectable here.

I didn't hear that from anyone... I saw releases from FEMA, DHS, White House, NRC, and others that said it would be detected here. Think about it - given the weather patterns and the amount of radiation it was obvious that very very small levels would be coming our way.

I guess I'd question those who said it wouldn't and ask why?

PS - note this post just after the quake later saying we'd see some radiation after a week or so...

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1763

 

[Haley]

Rdale, thank you for the info and replies. Do you think we have seen all that we will see, as far as the radioactivity here? Just seems to be a lot of conflicting information from Japan. Mike

 

[n5ims]

Rdale, thank you for the info and replies. Do you think we have seen all that we will see, as far as the radioactivity here? Just seems to be a lot of conflicting information from Japan. Mike

No, since there is still some being released and it takes about a week for it to travel across the ocean, we should still see some additional radiation in the monitors. Will it be enough to harm anyone, most likely not. With the vast amount of radiation released by the tragic accident in Chernobyl there were higher readings in the US for a while, but the increase caused no traceable harm to any individuals in the US (THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT — CAN IT HAPPEN HERE?).

 

[Haley]

n5ims, thank you for the link. Very informative. Its hard to really tell if the Japanese have a handle on this or not. I personally believe that the release will go on quite a bit longer. I really started looking at the NOAA site and noticed several warnings , mostly non-weather related, that had no definition/criteria. Just wondered what guidelines were used to issue them. Or if NOAA would be directed to by FEMA, or DHS for example. Mike

 

[Haley]

Fukushima has officially been raised to the same level as Chernyobl. It is now a 7, the highest level. Mike

 

[rdale]

While the level may be the same, they also indicated (and it's obvious based on the release) that it's nowhere near the same as Chernobyl.

Sort of like saying "Katrina was a Category 3 storm." Some things just don't fit into specific categories...

 

[Haley]

Rdale, I agree with you. There haven't been a whole lot of nuclear accidents to put on the scale. Obviously that's a good thing! Mike

 

[Haley]

Just curious if anyone still feels the same about this situation now as they did initially. Or if your opinions have changed, and why? I guess we wont know if rdale's have or not.