Can radioactive fallout reach the U.S. from Japan?

looks like it's becoming more of a problem

The U.S. Navy says they have temporarily positioned ships and planes away from a Japanese nuclear plant after detecting low level contamination

reuters

Originally posted by okiecowboy
looks like it's becoming more of a problem

The U.S. Navy says they have temporarily positioned ships and planes away from a Japanese nuclear plant after detecting low level contamination

reuters

key words being temporarily and low. Its still a LOW level.

when you have to be worried is when you hear the words HIGH and DANGEROUS or anything other than LOW...low level radiation sixty miles out is not going to pack enough of a kick by the time it gets over here.

reply to post by onyx718

I agree with you completely...
I am just trying to watch the path of the storm, how big the storm will be depends on how things play out in Japan

reply to post by okiecowboy


oh that's fine...i think we have to keep an eye on things but i'm just someone who is kind of tired of levels of panic going through the roof without there being 100% cause. I'm not trying to downplay anything but we don't yet know how much radation is going to be leaked in total...we've no way of knowing that yet and i think by going full out panic end of the world mode does A LOT more harm then it does good. That kind of thing is why the government DOESN'T tell people everything, mass hysteria, psychosomatic effects...fear is the enemy of the mind and during this kind of disasterous situation the more panic the worse off people are as far as i'm concerned

haha i know most people write off astrology but i;m a capricorn...its the logical / rational part of my brain that jut wants to try and keep reminding people that we need to keep a little level head for now...if the time comes to panic by all means do, but this is not the time

reply to post by onyx718


yeah I agree, that's why I have tried to be very careful in wording anything.. there has been WAY to many of the sky is falling threads out there..

what I am afraid of is people will be so used to the doom warnings, that IF something bad does start to happen..they will ignore it because they have seen 1102 posts already warning the same thing over the last week..

I just wanted to start some talk about the CHANCES of all the smoke and ash turning into a fallout plume to enable other wise local event to become widespread...was basicly tossing the idea out there for all those people that are saying nothing bad CAN happen

OK, in a nutshell...

"Radiation" is a catch-all term. There are many different types of radiation and untold different levels of radiation. The best definition I have is that radiation is energetic release during transmutation (decay). Each radioactive isotope has its own intensity, half-life, and type(s) of radiation associated with it.

Nuclear plants use uranium (U-238) as a fuel, which decays into other elements, some radioactive, by a nuclear chain reaction. As one atom decays, it emits energetic neutrons, which then can intercept other atoms and cause them to spontaneously decay. At some point, the fuel is packed tightly enough and in enough quantity to produce a critical mass, which simply means atoms are producing so many neutrons that the chain reaction will continue indefinitely until all the fuel has been exhausted.

How does this affect the US? Well, here are the different types of radiation:

• Alpha radiation is the emission of a helium nucleus, 2 protons and two electrons. This is possibly the most carcinogenic of the different types of radiation, because the helium nuclei are electrically charged and massive on an atomic scale. Plutonium decays via alpha emission.
  
  
• Beta radiation is the emission of electrons or positrons (anti-electrons). This also has a carcinogenic effect since the emissions are ionizing like alpha emission, but they do not have the atomic mass of alpha radiation. Beta emission is used in food sterilization, as it quickly kills bacteria. Cesium-135, Cesium-137, and Iodine-131 all decay by beta emission.
  
  
• Neutron emission occurs when energetic neutrons are emitted. Energetic neutrons then release energy (as do the alpha and beta particles) into the surrounding environment. The problem with neutron emission is that neutrons are easily absorbed by certain materials, and this absorption does not decrease their energy levels by itself. One notable material which is very good at absorbing neutrons is water. U-238 decays by neutron emission.
  
  
• Gamma radiation is the release of energy rather than particles. It can be compared to being exposed to an unshielded microwave oven. Most elements exhibit some gamma radiation, but significant amounts come from iodine-131 and U-238.

The only type that poses any significant threat to the US would be neutron radiation, with some beta and gamma radiation possible for a short period should something like iodine-131 manage to survive the trip across the Pacific. Any element that crosses the Pacific must have three characteristics to be significant:

• It must have a long enough half-life to still be significant when it gets here.
  
• It must have a significant intensity of radiation.
  
• It must have a transport mechanism to carry it.

The last requirement is the critical one. Plutonium, for instance, is heavy and insoluble, so any plutonium that attempted to reach us would drop out of the atmosphere well before it got close to the US. Iodine-131 could reach us (that was probably the cloud of radiation encountered by a US warship), but by the time it did, the short half-life of 8 days would mean it would not have much radioactivity left. Cesium-135 or -137 could reach us easily enough, and has a very long half-life, but cesium has very little intensity... it is mostly used for experimentation where a low-level, mostly safe radiation source is needed.

Neutrons have all three characteristics. They can remain energetic for extended periods of time. They carry a good deal of energy, and by their very nature, they can cause other quasi-stable atoms to split and produce more radiation of different types. And they are easily absorbed by water, which provides them a free ride on any trade winds or currents available.

Neutrons in the atmosphere would fall as radioactive rain, accumulate in radioactive groundwater, be absorbed into radioactive plants, and then be eaten by radioactive animals. There are plenty of areas in nature that will tend to concentrate energetic neutrons.

There is also really no defense against neutron contamination. The concrete walls inside a reactor building are the barricade used to protect the rest of the plant. There are elements, like boron, that tend to absorb neutrons, but if they are already absorbed, this does not help.

The thing to watch for now is a reactor breach that releases neutron-rich steam into the atmosphere, in a huge white plume. That has not happened, and I have no reason to believe it will at this point. It remains a possibility, but not a probability.

Not time to panic over here. Japan... yeah, panic time.

TheRedneck

P.S.: Iodine pills only provide protection against I-131.

Officialdumb has proven itself an unreliable source when announcing the potential dangers of radioactivity.
note the army manual on DU.....
and the subsequent poisoning of half the planet with it in toatl disregard to the notes found there...
note the death rate of returning US vets.

note the damage to health related to DU in the areas and surrounds where the uS army has used it to SAVE the populace...
demo cracy ...

oh yeah, here private...
put these glasses on and just stand there and watch the show....


cancer was almost non existant till we discovered polution and radiation....
now almost half the peeps can EXPECT to get it...

to late to worry now.

Originally posted by this_is_who_we_are
Here's a reference to put this in perspective:


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7d85f9cfa7c0.jpg[/atsimg]
qed.princeton.edu...

That's interesting. There is nothing on fallout where I live on this map. But I, and others, who lived here at the time clearly remember that we had fallout here.

There was a snowstorm that went up and over the Pole, and came down and snowed it down on us.

I've been hearing that it is possible for fallout to reach the U.S. I had an odd thought today. I was watching the news where the workers there have the hand-held detection devices scanning people, and thought... What if the devices are not even turned on. I mean if you've already been exposed maybe they don't want to alarm more than already are. I surly hope not, but who knows. It's really hard to completely trust any governments these days.

It needs travel time to get to you. Not enough travel time has passed yet.

Be paranoid enough to seek information, and take precautions which haven't any bad consequences.

So for example, you can take loading doses of iodine. Take fucidan, or blue-green algae, both of which have plenty of legitimate research into them have protective qualities for radiation, and particularly for cesium. You can starting loading your body mechanisms with ferricin containing foods (iron, iron-peptide, iron-enzymes) which is also protective against cesium uptake.

None of this is bad for you under normal circumstances, if you turn out to be worried for no reason. If gives you something useful to do, and allows a productive outlet for your concerns.

Originally posted by g146541
mmmmmm... yeeaaahhh kind of.
There will be alot of water filtration from there to here, i wouldn't sweat too much.

Water filtration? Look up 'Jet stream'

A few minutes ago... #4 all that is left



1000milliesevierts recorded at gate at 8am according to press release a few minites ago. It looks like they have evacuated the plant

www.livestation.com...

Okay so the workers are now abandoning the plant

America on radiation alert: Japan faces world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl as experts warn fallout may reach U.S.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Fears that America could be hit by the nuclear fallout from the Japan earthquake have dramatically increased as workers prepared to abandon a reactor crippled by the earthquake and tsunami last night in the face of what is set to become the world's second worst nuclear disaster - topped only by Chernobyl.

Damage at the number two reactor at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex is worse than thought, the Japanese government admitted tonight, sparking fears for human health both in Japan and the U.S.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has admitted it is 'quite possible' the fallout could reach America.

reply to post by zorgon

Can radioactive fallout reach the U.S. from Japan?,

That looks like an emphatic "YES"

In fact it looks like this will be a global event.

reply to post by TheRedneck


thanks. your post should be mandatory reading. i'll be looking for the white plumes. hope you'll let us know as well.

reply to post by Lawgiver


The white plumes should be pretty easy to spot now if you turn on the TV
it's a whole new ball game at this point

reply to post by okiecowboy


They say YES, thats why they put meters to detect, like the ones on the highways at truckstops, as of 3/18/2011 they say they are reading low levels coming in.