# Nuclear meltdown! Holy Godzilla NOOOO!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389 "2011-03-12T08:19:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 90
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1781 "2011-04-27T18:54:31Z")
You got me man. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1782 "2011-04-27T19:21:34Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > I’ve got a hundred or so other links, but seriously, is anybody going to look at them? you should post them or at least a bunch of them. it would save others much time finding the information. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1783 "2011-04-27T19:34:30Z")
> [@](#): > > As [The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/world/asia/27collusion.html?_r=1&src=me&pagewanted=all) reports, in 2000, Kei Sugaoka, a Japanese-American nuclear inspector, went to the nation’s main nuclear energy regulator with a startling find: the Tokyo Electric Power Co. was covering up a cracked steam dryer at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. > > Despite a whistleblower law that should have protected Sugaoka, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, or NISA, divulged the inspector’s identity to the power company, ruining his career as an inspector in Japan. Instead of forcing Tepco to undergo expensive repairs, the regulators let it slide. > > Such was the culture of complicity in Japan’s nuclear industry, critics say, leading up to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. > More evidence of the cozy relationship between nuclear companies and regulators is the 10-year extension given to the oldest of Fukushima’s reactors just weeks before the disaster. The decision to grant the extension beyond the 40-year statutory limit came despite safety warnings. > What’s more, experts raised the possibility of a catastrophic tsunami years ago, but their concerns were waved away. > **[FairWarning Web Archives, 2010-2021 | University of Illinois Archives](https://archon.library.illinois.edu/archives/index.php?p=collections%2Fcontrolcard&id=13014)** > [@](#): > > Workers are removing radiation-tainted topsoil from school grounds in the northeastern Japanese city of Koriyama. The city is about 50 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. [http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/27\_19.html](http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/27_19.html) Looking at fallout, click to see different isotopes > **[flexpart / flexpart · GitLab](https://git.nilu.no/flexpart/flexpart)** > > This is the local NILU hub for the version control of the main flexpart code. Remember when they had to abandon the entire plant? [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543\_162-20043127-503543.html](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20043127-503543.html) It’s looking more and more like the early reports of fuel blown out of the buildings was spot on. (see previous links with data from plant) Even Rolling Stone is starting to spread the word about the depth and level of lies and deceit that the whole nuclear industry lives by. > [@](#): > > according to Dave Lochbaum, a senior adviser at the Union of Concerned Scientists: “Key elements of what the NRC chief told Congress were ‘a baldfaced lie.’” Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer, says that Jaczko knows full well that what the NRC calls “defense in depth” at U.S. reactors has been seriously compromised over the years. In some places, highly radioactive spent fuel is stockpiled in what amounts to swimming pools located beside reactors. In other places, changes in the cooling systems at reactors have made them more vulnerable to a core meltdown if something goes wrong. A few weeks before Fukushima, Lochbaum authored a widely circulated report that underscored the NRC’s haphazard performance, describing 14 serious “near-miss” events at nuclear plants last year alone. At the Indian Point reactor just north of New York City, federal inspectors discovered a water-containment system that had been leaking for 16 years [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/americas-nuclear-nightmare-a-dozen-fukushimas-waiting-to-happen-20110427](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/americas-nuclear-nightmare-a-dozen-fukushimas-waiting-to-happen-20110427) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1784 "2011-04-27T19:39:48Z")
Watching the nuclear deniers try to counter each new revelation about this disaster reminds me of Trump and the birthers. No matter what evidence you present, they hand wave it away, move the goalposts, or try to talk about something else. Or just ignore what they don’t like. The map of radioactivity shows clearly the extreme damage to Japan, and that was just the few days the wind blew the wrong way, most of the fallout went out to sea, like most of the water has. This is actually very good, because the ocean dilutes and buries radioactive material much better than it ending up on land. But, the winds that blow over Japan are coming, and it certainly looks like they won’t stop the leaks before it happens. The simple fact that now they have all these multiple reactors and fuel ponds in serious trouble, as in it can’t get much worse, and now way to even get close enough to know just how bad it is, it’s a very bad fuck up. It’s almost exactly the kind of fuck up that the Union of Concerned Scientists has been trying to warn people about, and force changes to prevent. Hell, even the official inspectors knew there were already serious problems at Fukushima. Didn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1785 "2011-04-27T21:19:10Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Watching the nuclear deniers try to counter each new revelation about this disaster reminds me of Trump and the birthers. No matter what evidence you present, they hand wave it away, move the goalposts, or try to talk about something else. Yes, god damn those nuclear deniers, for instance: > **[Is nuclear power safe?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344082/is-nuclear-power-safe)** anyway, just to update. That Japanese nuclear death toll so far: 0. I now return you to fxm’s standard broadcast of shit he has made up, misunderstood or just imagined. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1786 "2011-04-27T21:49:37Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > anyway, just to update. That Japanese nuclear death toll so far: 0. So this has caused zero increase in risk of death, cancers and other suffering, or are only immediate deaths caused by irradiation worth considering? The earthquake and the tsunami were awful, but it doesn’t require replacing topsoil in large swaths and forever forbidding people to live near the reactors that have melted down. You ask people to keep things in perspective (or at least that is the deniers general argument even if you yourself haven’t made it), but then fail to concede that the cost of placing a nuclear plant on the coast of earthquake and tsunami prone Japan with inadequate safety measures and cooling back up has had and will continue to have terrible costs to the people responding and the neighbors of the plant. It is not possible to prevent earthquakes and tsunamis, although it is possible to reduce the damage that result. The Japanese have mitigated those damages. But it is possible to absolutely prevent nuclear meltdowns and breaches by not building such costly and accident prone technology right on the fucking coast. The tsunami that overran the plant was anticipated and improperly prepared for. The consequences were known. We are now being asked to once again trust the engineers and politicians and investors who created this entirely avoidable disaster to trust them again. I think not! (and then I disappeared.) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1787 "2011-04-27T22:02:45Z")
It’s not like real scientists, experts who understand the issues involved, haven’t been fighting against nuclear power for a long time now. They have also been fighting to force existing plants to upgrade and add safety modifications. To avoid an accident exactly like what happened. Actually, I don’t ever recall anyone forecasting a multiple reactor/fuel ponds disaster before. Hell, Chernobyl blew the fuck up, and they still ran the reactor RIGHT NEXT TO IT like nothing happened. Of course radiation wasn’t constantly coming out of Chernobyl, nor did the facility have 40 years of spent fuel rods above the reactors, so the two disasters are a lot different. The Russians had the spread of radioactive material stopped in a week. And there was no risk of further explosions, fuel rods melting down (outside the reactor), nor a constant flow of radioactive water into the ocean and ground. Chernobyl, one reactor, one week of shit Fukushima 6 reactors, 6 fuel ponds, six weeks of shit coming out of them (so far) I wish this was only as bad as Chernobyl. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1788 "2011-04-27T22:05:01Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Chernobyl, one reactor, one week of shit > > Fukushima 6 reactors, 6 fuel ponds, six weeks of shit coming out of them (so far) I think you’re in the [wrong thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=606346). ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1789 "2011-04-27T22:06:50Z")
One of the advantages of sticking to reality, especially in a case like a nuclear disaster, is that you have a better chance of taking the right actions to deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1790 "2011-04-28T01:12:41Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Watching the nuclear deniers try to counter each new revelation about this disaster reminds me of Trump and the birthers. No matter what evidence you present, they hand wave it away, move the goalposts, or try to talk about something else. Evidence of what, exactly? What are you actually expecting at this point? It’s like a 200-vehicle freeway pile-up happened weeks ago and you’re shrieking “look at the cars! Look at the broken glass! Look at the bodies! Remember the fire!” over and over again. We know about them already. > [@FXMastermind](#): > > The map of radioactivity shows clearly the extreme damage to Japan, and that was just the few days the wind blew the wrong way, most of the fallout went out to sea, like most of the water has. This is actually very good, because the ocean dilutes and buries radioactive material much better than it ending up on land. Well, it doesn’t really. It shows a contamination zone around the plant with decreasing levels of contamination with distance, which is exactly what you’d expect. Not good, but not news anymore either. I can’t read the Japanese captions so I can’t tell what units the radtioactivity colour bands are showing, but the worst of it looks to be within the 30km radius band. Interpret that as “extreme damage” if you like. > [@FXMastermind](#): > > But, the winds that blow over Japan are coming, and it certainly looks like they won’t stop the leaks before it happens. If you’re talking about your rather nice nilu.no link, do you realise that’s a SIMULATION OF A WORST CASE SCENARIO AND **NOT** WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING? If you actually click on the “Information” section of the animated map and then read the “Attention” notice you might have noticed that little factoid. [http://transport.nilu.no/products/fukushima](http://transport.nilu.no/products/fukushima) “These products are highly uncertain based on limited information for the source terms. Please use with caution and understand that the values are likely to change once we obtain more information on the overall nature of the accident. _The products should be considered informational and only indicate ‘worst case scenario’ releases. From what we’ve learned recently, it seems releases of this magnitude have not yet occurred._” Italics mine. > [@FXMastermind](#): > > The simple fact that now they have all these multiple reactors and fuel ponds in serious trouble, as in it can’t get much worse, and now way to even get close enough to know just how bad it is, it’s a very bad fuck up. I contend that its a shitload less bad than it was a few weeks ago, now that there is active cooling of cores and ponds in progress and radioactive water is being pumped into storage, but if you want to point and scream at the wreckage even as they’re clearing it up, feel free. Radiation levels outside the plant are falling. Whether there are radiation leaks of volatiles/particles to atmosphere still in progress is doubtful. Your link about “Highest readings yet, radiation is getting worse” refers to radiation measured by a robot _within a reactor building_ and not to rising radiation levels anywhere. > [@FXMastermind](#): > > It’s almost exactly the kind of fuck up that the Union of Concerned Scientists has been trying to warn people about, and force changes to prevent. > > Hell, even the official inspectors knew there were already serious problems at Fukushima. Didn’t matter. Absolutely. You’ve managed to make one trivially correct point in your deluge of poorly understood, misrepresented information. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1791 "2011-04-28T02:51:38Z")
Latest measurements of radiation levels at the monitoring points around Fukushima are shown on this pdf: [http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news\_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01\_1303953470P.pdf](http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1303953470P.pdf) Levels are falling at all measurement points. Aerial measurements collated by the US DOE are given on this page and are frequently updated. [http://blog.energy.gov/content/situation-japan](http://blog.energy.gov/content/situation-japan) The latest update, incorporating measurements up to the 20th April ,show: “Radiation levels continue to decrease” “No measurable deposit of radiological material since March 19” As far as contamination of the land outside the plant goes, it looks like we’ve had all we’re going to get, barring any further catastrophies. The iodine 131 will have decayed away to nothing in six months. Caesium will be the sticking point for long term contamination and determining if/when people can go home. The situation at the plant remains static and there doesn’t seem to be recirculating cooling established at the reactors yet. The spent fuel pool at reactor 4 likely has a slow leak. Radioactive water is accumulating in the basements of the turbine halls and water storage is being brought in to contain it. Things aren’t great, but slow progress is being made. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1792 "2011-04-28T02:59:10Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > He’s either completely insane, or having a bit of fun at your expense. I don’t know which is worse really. I believe the former, but if the latter then you have the nerve to call someone a troll, or in fact, are the troll yourself and that is why you made your little bit of fun. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1793 "2011-04-28T03:02:20Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Chernobyl, one reactor, one week of shit > > Fukushima 6 reactors, 6 fuel ponds, six weeks of shit coming out of them (so far) > > I wish this was only as bad as Chernobyl. My DOE link above states that no radiological material has been deposited onto land since March 19th. At the last assessment, Fukushima has released about ten times less iodine and caesium in total than Chernobyl, and certainly hasn’t spread tonnes of radioactive fuel over a wide area like Chernobyl did. See page 20 here: [http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou\_e.pdf](http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou_e.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1794 "2011-04-28T03:09:48Z")
> [@matt](#): > > My DOE link above states that no radiological material has been deposited onto land since March 19th. > > At the last assessment, Fukushima has released about ten times less iodine and caesium in total than Chernobyl, and certainly hasn’t spread tonnes of radioactive fuel over a wide area like Chernobyl did. See page 20 here: [http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou\_e.pdf](http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou_e.pdf) What, depositing it in the sea does not count? The fact that farm land is destroyed ,cows and chickens had to be destroyed, milk is being dumped because of radiation and it is not so bad? Chernobyl was in a sparse area. This one is in a densely populated area. There are some points that make this worse. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1795 "2011-04-28T04:01:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > What, depositing it in the sea does not count? The fact that farm land is destroyed ,cows and chickens had to be destroyed, milk is being dumped because of radiation and it is not so bad? Chernobyl was in a sparse area. This one is in a densely populated area. There are some points that make this worse. I absolutely dispute that Fukushima is worse than Chernobyl. The areas around the reactors were evacuated before there was any release of radioactive material. Contamination of the ground, the sea, food and water have been carefully monitored and dangerously contaminated foodstuffs have been quite rightly destroyed. Farm land is not destroyed - it will have to be quarantined until the final level of caesium contamination is known. And no, that is not so bad compared to Chernobyl. It will very likely avoid the thousands of extra cases of thyroid cancer caused by Chernobyl, despite the higher population density. The 18th April DOE update shows a radiological consequences map that is quite interesting. The worst contaminated zone will inflict a dose of over 2 rem over a year, on people who have stayed there since the earthquake hit. The annual dosage limit on radiation workers in the USA is 5 rem, for comparison. The DOE links don’t show contamination of the sea because the information is derived from aerial measurements. The lack of any land deposition since March 19th is evidence that aerial contamination iof the surrounding land is no longer occurring and hasn’t been for some time. I would have thought that was good news. For data on sea contamination, try: [http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news\_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01\_1303953503P.pdf](http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1303953503P.pdf) Sure, contamination of the sea counts and there’s a lot of radioactive water on the site, some of which has made its way to the sea. Despite this, it’s not looking too bad, with the most recent iodine 131 levels being low or undetectable. I would have thought that was good news as well. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1796 "2011-04-28T05:28:32Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > [http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/27\_10.html](http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/27_10.html) > > Fukushima radiation map released > > [朝日新聞デジタル：写真・図版 - 社会](http://www.asahi.com/national/gallery_e/view_photo.html?national-pg/0426/TKY201104260415.jpg) > > close up view of map I put two links for the map for a reason. The first one has an English report used so you can understand what it means. (the video) The second one is a still graphic. 20 mSv/a is the average limit for radiation workers in the US. (20 millisieverts a year) [http://www.climateactioncentre.org/Fukushima-radiation-levels-compared](http://www.climateactioncentre.org/Fukushima-radiation-levels-compared) Well, maybe. > [@](#): > > “The limit for radiation workers in the United States is 50 millisieverts per year, but we try to keep them to less than 5 millisieverts per year.” [http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-18/world/japan.nuclear.reactors\_1\_radiation-millisieverts-japan-s-nuclear?\_s=PM:WORLD](http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-18/world/japan.nuclear.reactors_1_radiation-millisieverts-japan-s-nuclear?_s=PM:WORLD) I checked the actual NRC site and the numbers don’t match either one of those sources, but then they are all technical about deep dose, and lens dose, and full body dose, and cumulative doses and all that sciency stuff. The demarcation line (which is either thick black or the red line) would be the 20MSv/a does boundary, for somebody who was outside for eight hours a day. It has become obvious that not only is radiation dose not an exact science, the different ways you get dosed, and especially the kind of particles you encounter, and how they either contact you, or radiate you, it all matters. None of it is actually hard science, which is pretty amazing. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1797 "2011-04-28T05:30:28Z")
The good thing about all this delving into dose amounts and rates and such is that I almost have a realistic radiation guide ready to go. The biggest problem is the lack of actual science on the matter. It turns out that most of it isn’t based on experiments at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1798 "2011-04-28T05:32:50Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > I wish this was only as bad as Chernobyl. Which in one sentence demonstrates quite succinctly just how little understanding you have of either event. This is not as bad as Chernobyl. It will not become nearly as bad as Chernobyl. And Chernobyl, massive cluster fuck of state control as it was, wasn’t even half as bad as the sort of apocalyptic shite you’ve been speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1799 "2011-04-28T05:34:23Z")
Which is the point. They have no perspective at all. Just running around like Chicken Little. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389/1800 "2011-04-28T05:41:45Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > I checked the actual NRC site and the numbers don’t match either one of those sources, but then they are all technical about deep dose, and lens dose, and full body dose, and cumulative doses and all that sciency stuff. Americans like to use REM. From [http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/health-effects/info.html](http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/health-effects/info.html) “Title 10, Part 20, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 20), “Standards for Protection Against Radiation,” establishes the dose limits for radiation workers. Although the limits vary, depending on the affected part of the body, the annual total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) for the whole body is 5,000 mrem (5 rem).” 5 rem = 50 millisieverts - [Sievert - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389.md?page=89) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-meltdown-holy-godzilla-noooo/574389.md?page=91)