Re: [tlug] How much of radiations measured in Central Tokyo?

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:43 PM, Kalin KOZHUHAROV <me.kalin@example.com> wrote:

> I also don't think we have issues in Tokyo yet, but I don't have my geiger yet.

Uhm, if you have an issue with radiation in Tokyo, radiation will be the least
of your issues.  There are about 15 million people between Fukushima and
Tokyo, and *all* of them will want to borrow some floor in your apartment.

Seriously, radiation *is* a real problem -- for the emergency workers at the
reactors, for sure -- they're looking at deci-sieverts in the environment; for
the people who have been forced to evacuate -- milli-sieverts; and possibly
for other people in Iwaki city.  But even Tokai-mura (~80km from Iwaki;
Tokyo Station is around 200km from Iwaki) is reporting abnormalities in
*micro*-sievert units, while (according to Wikipedia, which you may not
trust any more than you trust the official reports of radiation levels) effects
on the human body require on the order of a sievert:

Effects to humans of acute radiation (within one day):[5]

    * 0–0.25 Sv: None
    * 0.25–1 Sv: Some people feel nausea and loss of appetite; bone
      marrow, lymph nodes, spleen damaged.
    * 1–3 Sv: Mild to severe nausea, loss of appetite, infection; more
      severe bone marrow, lymph node, spleen damage; recovery probable,
      not assured.
    * 3–6 Sv: Severe nausea, loss of appetite; hemorrhaging, infection,
      diarrhea, skin peels, sterility; death if untreated.
    * 6–10 Sv: Above symptoms plus central nervous system impairment;
      death expected.
    * Above 10 Sv: Incapacitation and death.

I'm not sure what cpm (counts per minute) means in terms of sieverts.
Probably very little, as what matters for sieverts is the amount of energy
delivered, not the number of events.