What are the chances of radiation making it to the east coast of U.S?

Worst case scenario...Could the jet stream bring it to the east coast if it was bad enough?
Should i buy potassium iodide just as a precaution?

Ive been watching this extremely closely and i warned everyone i know on the west coast on Saturday when i heard about this whole disaster.

Not an expert on this type of stuff.
Im 21 and i have 2 kids and im just concerned.

Thanks ATS
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I'm no expert on this but, from what I've seen, the current moves to the east from Japan so the radiation would move towards the western US first, hitting Hawaii and the western seaboard first and then move inland. By the time it would hit the us it would be far less harmfull.


Or so I hope.

reply to post by Crakeur


I guess thats all we can do brother.
Hope and pray to the creator.

I find it difficult to even want to go to work tomorrow.
It seems trivial with everything that is going on in the world.

A few threads already asking this same question.
At the present time, I would not panic.
It's going to take a catastrophic failure before radioactive material gets sent high enough to reach the jet stream.

I hope not. We shouldnt expect so either.

I say buy it, you know this thing is very unpredictable. everyday something new happens, everyday a reactor blows up, they said it was safe 5 days ago when it all started and it seemed under control, but so much has escalated and they still say there's nothing to worry about. before we know it something unexplainable happens and the whole thing blows up. be prepared

about 0%. or the same odds that radiation from two full blown atomic blasts on hiroshima and nagaski reached and killed people in california on august, 6th and 9th, 1945. 0%

or the same percentage of people that died from the same blasts 100 miles away inside japan from radiation, about 0%.

it's like dropping a bottle of ink in the pacific and expecting it to stain someone swimming in new zealand.

The only thing the east coast needs to worry about is New Jersey.

On a serious note - in a worst case scenario - 11 reactor melt down/explosion going full Chernobyl? Good question. If it reaches the east coast and is dangerous, then the West coast will be in bigger trouble.

Even so, if it is a worst case scenario, the global economic consequences will have more of a negative direct impact on your life.

Thanks for the great reply's!
Im going to order some online tonight.

We have a Nuclear Powerplant approximately 40 miles north of Boston.

The West coast of the USA and Canada will receive it.....and so will the east coast then it goes on to Europe, China and Japan again.

reply to post by randomname


I was always under the impression that the bombs dropped in Japan used up this nuclear energy in the explosion so fall out was minimal.
Plutonium rods melting is something different....as the radiation just goes into the atmosphere as is.

It’s estimated that the Chernobyl accident was equivalent to 500 nuclear bombs used in Hiroshima in 1945 and Chernobyl didn’t actually “melt down”. The Chernobyl reactor blew up and scattered the fuel rods which stopped most of the nuclear reaction. Had Chernobyl actually melted down… the radiation released could have been equivalent to the detonation of every nuclear bomb on earth.

source : www.japan.org...

Originally posted by loves a conspiricy
reply to post by randomname

 

I was always under the impression that the bombs dropped in Japan used up this nuclear energy in the explosion so fall out was minimal.
Plutonium rods melting is something different....as the radiation just goes into the atmosphere as is.

Fat man only converted 1 gram of its 14 pound fissionable mass into energy.

Originally posted by randomname
about 0%. or the same odds that radiation from two full blown atomic blasts on hiroshima and nagaski reached and killed people in california on august, 6th and 9th, 1945. 0%
or the same percentage of people that died from the same blasts 100 miles away inside japan from radiation, about 0%.
it's like dropping a bottle of ink in the pacific and expecting it to stain someone swimming in new zealand.

edit on 16-3-2011 by randomname because: (no reason given)

How much radioactive material in one bomb ??

How much radioactive material in those reactors and the thousands of spent fuel rods ??

How can you even compare the two ??

The current excess radiation exposure for people in Tokyo is the equvalent of smoking one cigarette during the same period of time, so I wouldnt be too worried.

reply to post by SirMike


It exploded above ground....if it exploded on the ground it would have been a lot worse.
Remember these reactors contain tons of this material....not grams or even pounds...tons.
If these 4 reactors melt down....say goodbye to the vast majority of people in Japan and surrounding areas.

Originally posted by SirMike
The current excess radiation exposure for people in Tokyo is the equvalent of smoking one cigarette during the same period of time, so I wouldnt be too worried.

And yet the US announced it was evacuating a 50mile radius of the reactors..
so many conflicting stories.

Originally posted by backinblack

Originally posted by SirMike
The current excess radiation exposure for people in Tokyo is the equvalent of smoking one cigarette during the same period of time, so I wouldnt be too worried.

And yet the US announced it was evacuating a 50mile radius of the reactors..
so many conflicting stories.

There is nothing conflicting, Toyko is 150 miles away.

living to states from the west coast, getting the wind and storms, from there it is a concern to me, as long as there is no full melt down,i think it is safe to say no harm, online.wsj.com... and this statement from the link

Even if the Japanese nuclear plant damaged in the earthquake goes into full meltdown, it is unlikely to cause environmental fallout anything on the scale seen after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, scientists said.

is some what reassuring if it is fact and not just , pardon the pun hot air.

Not likely at all


The Chernobyl disaster there was a very large fire/explosion which pushed the radiation up to high altitudes which then got carried by the atmospheric winds very long distances, still i don't think it covered the distance from Japan to the US

So since we don't have these big raging fires at the Japan power plant then its impossible for the radiation to be carried that far or even get up high enough to be carried that far, its un likely it will even effect the far east of Russia also

Some of these samples and analogies are flat out silly.
No numbers to back them up. Where do you guys get this stuff

Look.
No need to panic right now. While it is a serious situation over in Japan, they are the only ones who need to worry about radiation poisoning. They are the ones who need to get out of Dodge, now!

If what is said about the spent fuel rods being exposed, then if the containment vessel is breached, that is a serious issue and not the same a a daily cigarette

In order for a massive dose of radiation, enough to do damage, hit the West Coast or anywhere in the US for that matter, there would have to be a huge catastrophic failure and the material would have to reach the jet stream nearly 30,000ft high to get carried over.

If anyone needs to worry about it being carried over, it is Hawaii.

At this point in time the only people in serious danger right now are those in Japan.