It IS Nuclear Physics

Let me start by saying, no emails. No anonymous questions that need unprofessional advice. The offer is still there, write me if you need anything craigsundaysession@yahoo.ca


You know, the worst thing about having an unpopular blog as it currently is, is that most of the people reading it don't typically need an education. I know most of you, I assume, and you all keep up with current events somewhat, and if you fall into this category of people then you aren't a moron. Its the people who are too fucking stupid to know shit that need to be reading this sometimes, but then again, they probably still wouldn't get it. Another frustrating thing is that research on the internet is incredibly hard to come by unless you know creditable sources that you can refer to for just about anything. If you try and do research via Google, its fairly difficult depending on the nature of what you're searching for. This blog entry is about as creditable as I could make it.


At the same time as all these earthquakes began to rattle Japan, it was almost like the media had to warn North Americans about nuclear fallout crossing the Pacific and deforming our unborn babies, and poisoning our fish, and rotting our lungs. It seems now that the media may have slightly toned down on the fear mongering as headlines typically still read "Nuclear fallout not likely a threat to Western Coast", "Threats of nuclear meltdown still present, North America still okay" or whatever, but why is it that I still flip open the newspaper to read "Discovery" articles outlining the side effects of nuclear radiation on the human body?Before I get to an example, here is a little information for you. The Sievert (Sv)is the SI unit of dose equivalent radiation.


"The unit gray measures absorbed radiation which is absorbed into any material. The unit sievert specifically measures absorbed radiation which is absorbed by a person. The equivalent dose to a person is found by multiplying the absorbed dose, in gray, by a weighting factor (W). The weighting factor (sometimes referred to as a quality factor) is determined by a combination of: the radiation type, the tissue absorbing the radiation, and other pertinent factors."


The quote was taken from the non creditable source, Wikipedia. Sorry, best I could do.  The following information was taken from the Calgary Sun from Tuesday March 22, 2011 in reference to radiation effects on the body, and some intake values;


1 Microsievert = 0.000001Sv
1 Millisievert (mSv) = 0.001 Sv


-On average, a human will intake 10 microsievert in one day. This equals approximately 3650 microsivert  or 0.000365 Sv yearly.


-100 mSv (0.1 Sv) yearly intake is linked to increased cancer risks. The cancer risks associated with this number are however incredibly minuscule, and almost obsolete.


-161 mSv (0.161 Sv) is the highest level of radiation currently recorded in Japan. (Funny how nuclear fallout isn't a threat but they make mention of Japan?)


- 2 Sv can cause severe radiation poisoning that IS treatable. 
- 4 Sv causes extreme poisoning, most often fatal
- 8 Sv no chance of survival from poisoning, even with treatment
- 50 Sv was the average radiation level after 10 minutes of standing NEXT TO the Chernobyl reactor after meltdown.




Something else worth mention is that there is over 50 nuclear fission products (so those that are created through the process of refining uranium 235, 238 and 239 as well plutonium 239, sorry I don't know exactly how it all works) some of which have a half life as little as several minutes, and some which range up to 300 million years. Half life is the period of time in which it takes a material to become half as potent in release of radiation from its original state, so it exponentially cuts itself in half through whatever period of time is related to is specific properties. Unfortunatly I was unable to surface the fission products that are found highest, and what their half lives are respectively.


So in relation to current events, here is some information about the Chernobyl reactor meltdown, and its effects on the surrounding area;


-A 30 km radius around the Chernobyl reactor site was evacuated after meltdown. The distance between Tokyo to Vancouver is ~7574 km (or in other words a RADIUS of ~7574 km if you use Japan as a reference of center, or 0,0 whatever).


-The Chernobyl incident happened due to flawed reactor design operated by inadequate personnel


-Although it is unclear how many people died as a result of the Chernobyl meltdown, its is estimated to be around 5000, including 31 initial deaths of the explosion and 28 firemen whom suffered from acute radiation poisoning due to immediate response to the situation and were exposed to large amounts of radiation

-UNSCEAR says that apart from increased thyroid cancers, "there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 20 years after the accident."

- The number 4 Chernobyl reactor responsible for the explosion was OPEN, in the sense that there was nothing protecting it from leaking radiation had it exploded, while the Japanese nuclear reactors are enclosed and built in a manner to encase nuclear fission products, and prevent an explosion in the event of a meltdown.

So I ask the question, why is anybody scared of nuclear fallout reaching North America? The Japanese are smart as hell, have trained professionals looking after their reactors and have built there country based around the chance of earthquakes. If there ever was a real threat of nuclear fallout wouldn't the entire west coast be evacuated and relocated by now? There is no evidence that suggests that nuclear radiation is able to travel 7000 km in a potent enough dose to even get anybody SICK, let alone kill them. I just found all this information on nuclear energy very interesting, and quite enlightening. The bottom line is, don't live in fear of, well of anything that is thrown in your face really, but especially not something so stupid. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning then dying of radiation poisoning anytime soon. Don't like it? Read a fucking article dummy. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/chernobyl/inf07.html

-Swanny