Thursday, February 9, 2012

#Radiation in Japan: Decontamination Work in 70 - 130 Microsieverts/Hr Location in Fukushima

What is the point here?

Contract workers pile up plastic bags containing highly contaminated soil on the ground in one of the most contaminated area in the entire Fukushima Prefecture. (Photo from Yomiuri)

This particular location, Ottozawa District of Okuma-machi (where Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located), regularly measures well over 100 microsieverts/hour in air radiation 1 meter off the ground.

Just 6 days ago (2/3/2012 in Japan), the air radiation was 130 microsieverts/hour in Ottozawa District, according to Fukushima Minyu. The newspaper says the levels of radiation haven't changed much.

At 130 microsieverts/hour, if one stands there 24/7 for a year, it will be 1138.8 millisieverts, or 1.138 sievert, per year. (Only Professor Wade Allison may say it is safe.)

To say Ottozawa District is "inside the 20 kilometer radius no entry zone", as Yomiuri in the article below does, is a severe understatement. Ottozawa is within 3 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Some of the public facilities of Ottozawa District are right up against the plant compound.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2/10/2012):

政府は9日、東京電力福島第一原発から半径20キロ・メートル圏の警戒区域にある福島県大熊町夫沢(おっとざわ)地区で、除染モデル事業で出た廃棄物を仮置き場に搬入する様子を報道関係者に初めて公開した。

On February 9, the national government invited the press for the first time to the temporary storage site of the waste from the government's decontamination model project. The storage site is located in Ottozawa District in Okuma-machi in Fukushima Prefecture, inside the 20-kilometer radius "no entry zone".

 公開されたのは第一原発から約3キロ・メートルにある町営野球場グラウンドの2か所。この日の夫沢地区の放射線量は高い所で毎時70マイクロ・シーベルトを超えていた。国の調査地点の中では最高値だ。

Two locations on the town's baseball ground, 3 kilometers from the plant, were shown to the press. The radiation levels in Ottozawa District on February 9 exceeded 70 microsieverts/hour in some locations. The radiation levels [in Ottozawa District] are the highest among the locations regularly monitored by the government.

 作業員は防護服にマスク姿の重厚ないでたちで、汚染された土や草などが入った約1トンの袋を次々と積み上げていた。作業員の1人は「防護マスクは息苦しいし、ゴム手袋だから手がかじかんで重労働」と話した。

The workers in protective clothing and face masks were piling up 1-tonne bags of contaminated soil and vegetation. One of the workers said, "The protective mask is suffocating, and my hands are freezing because of the rubber gloves. It's a hard work."

 袋を置く地面には遮水シートなどが4層にも敷いてあった。袋を積み上げた後はさらに3層のシートなどで覆い、最後には土をかぶせる予定だ。事業を受託する日本原子力研究開発機構の担当者は、「放射線は98%遮蔽できる」と説明した。

Four protective layers, including water-shielding sheet, were laid on the ground where the bags were being put. After the bags are piled up, they will be covered with 3 layers of sheet, which they will be covered with dirt. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency who contracted the decontamination work explains, "98% of radiation [coming from the bags] can be shielded."

Well, there is no information in the article what's the radiation coming from the bags that contain extremely contaminated soil right near the nuke plant. The workers, as far as Yomiuri reports, are not concerned about radiation but inconvenience of having to work in the protective gear which does not shield radiation.

There is no information on whether the workers are JAEA employees or the contract workers, but judging from the remark by one of the workers in the article, it is likely to be the latter. I hope they were fully informed of the risks and paid accordingly, but hope is a dirty word.

My uneducated guess is that the radiation coming off the bags can be measured in millisieverts, not in microsieverts.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

And when the "workers" return to their homes and families..they will "share" Fukushima radiation with everyone. If they get sick, it will be the flu. If their children are born with disablities --its because they didnt smile.

Anonymous said...

.feel good fluff piece
/japan is ded<, short of GODLY INTERVENTION< ONLY WAY, YOU WILL PROVE IT.
COMMUNISM, ISN'T IT GRAND.
KNOW MORE THAN ME? NOTTA CHANCE. COULDA SAVED JAPAN/THE WORLD, WAS YOUR CHOICE. HEAR, SEE, KNOW WHAT U WANT/LOSERS< UR CERTAINLY NOT WINNING AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS IN THIS/YOUR WORLD.
YEAH I'M MAD AT YOU JAPAN BECAUSE IGNORANCE IS TO BLAME AND IT'S PREVENTABLE. NOW EVERYONE THERE IS GUARANTEED TO DIE
THE GUILTY ARE AWASH IN THE BLOOD OF THE CHILDREN, THEY ARE MARKED, AS THEY SHOULD BE.
NICE2KNOW THERE'S NO RESPECT, INCREDIBLE INDIFFERENCE AND NO MERCY UNTOWARDS THE "small people" JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW THEY ARE "LESS THAN" AND "DESERVE TO DIE" NOMATTER WHAT, LIKE ANIMALS WHO WE ALSO ARE INDIFFERENT TO.
THE LITTLE PEOPLE MAY CARE, BUT THAT WILL NOT SAVE THEIR LIVES.
WATCH THEM DIE OR DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. UNLESS... IT IS TOO LATE TO.
I MAY DESERVE TO DIE BUT THE INDIFFERENCE FACTOR WILL SEE THAT I LIVE, SRRY.
BRAVO JAPAN,
BRAVO WORLD
BRAVO MEDIA/GOVTS/CORPS/CELEBRITIES
YOU'VE LOST ALL RESPECT WHEN YOU MADE THE DECISION NOT TO INSTITUTE INTEGRATED NEUTRON POISONS, BURNED CONTAMINATION AND OK'D WANTON KILLING OF /ALL< MAKES YOU FILTH. FUK U.
WATCH THE CHILDREN AND BABIES DIE UNTIL IT SINKS IN IDIOTS.
SEE WHAT THE RESULTS OF REPRODUCTION IN ANIMALS ARE,,, YOU'RE NEXT.
IGNORANCE AND LACK OF RESPECT WILL NEITHER NEGATE OR PROTECT.
KILLING IS IMPORTANT TO THE WORLD AND YOU JAPAN "ESPECIALLY KILLING CHILDREN", IF IT WASN'T,
YOU WOULDN'T DO IT!!!!!
IN ADDENDUM, IF I TOLD YOU DRIVING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC COULD KILL YOUR FAMILY AND OTHERS YOU WOULD "NOT WOULD YOU?" BE MAD AT ME WHEN YOU DID KILL YOUR FAMILY AND OTHER FAMILIES ON THE ROAD.
LET THIS BE A LESSON.
NUKE/GOVT'S ATTITUDE= FUK U
ATTITUDE TOWARDS ME= FUK U "m insightful ;)"
TIME TO PUT ON THE BIG BOY PANTS AND ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY GOVT, CORP, WORLD.
DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE OR THINK COCAINE IS PART OF "PERSONAL GROWTH/EXPERIENCE"<LIKE THE CELEBS<SCUM.
and if you're going along with the bog charade towing the line, YOU'RE SCUM TOO.

Anonymous said...

charade OR towing the line, YOU'RE SCUM TOO.

Anonymous said...

This is just feel-good bullshit, which puts workers' health at risk. Nasty. Nothing has been learned from Chernobyl.

Anonymous said...

8:27 PM,

And what is it that YOU do exactly? Sit in your mommy's basement day and night drinking Finnish booze while typing unfitting "stylized" spam in blog comments?

You gotta be the biggest clueless dumbass on the net to deride the people reading, and writing into, one of the three priceless blogs devoted to exposing the shit that is going on at Fukushima. You are so incredibly dense you beat osmium hands down.

As always, FUK_U.

Anonymous said...

my FUK U regards to 8:27 too

Anonymous said...

"TIME TO PUT ON THE BIG BOY PANTS AND ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY GOVT, CORP, WORLD.

WTF????? AGAIN WITH THE PANTS.

Anonymous said...

If this is a blog charade then why do you even come here anon? Can you get any stupider. We should have a guy like you running the whole show. Someone who doesn't realize he is preaching semi-coherent rants to the choir, can't explain anything in his own words so he uses cut and paste, has a short fuse whenever questioned, has delusions of grandeur, is racist and a sanctimonious fundy religious bible thumper, and has a vile habit of revenge telling everyone they are scum because no one wants to read your logorrhoea.

Anonymous said...

it's blogarreah, u blessed imbecile.
Must be nice to be such a dimwitted malcontent.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Maybe the radiation from Ottozawa District in Okuma-machi, Fukushima distantly and digitally affected the 2nd Anon reader somehow...

They "decontaminated" the forest that had 200 microsieverts/hour radiation there (by picking up the dead leaves). After the "decon", the radiation dropped significantly to 80 microsieverts/hour, they say.

Anonymous said...

"Maybe the radiation from Ottozawa District in Okuma-machi, Fukushima distantly and digitally affected the 2nd Anon reader somehow..."

It's more likely one of his parents was somehow irradiated and he is the product. Great example of the sins of the parents visiting the offspring, like he wrote...

old arbe said...

>it's blogarreah, u blessed imbecile.

Jesus on the cross bleeding, why in heaven do you come here. Worst case of sour grapes I've ever had the displeasure of reading.

Anonymous said...

......it's celebrities and drugs now. Yes, good people who read this blog, stop mimicking celebrities and cut out the cocaine use for your personal growth right now!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't get why anon troll is so against cocaine use when that is the only way anyone would make sense out of what he writes. He's right about one thing though, even if you do cocaine to understand his shit, it definitely won't do anything for your personal growth. Deep.

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