[ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
Dan W McCarn
hotgreenchile at gmail.com
Tue Jun 21 17:32:13 CDT 2011
Dear Sandy:
In the two years (1995-1996) that I worked at the Sosny Labs / Chernobyl
Exclusion Zone in Belarus, I received only 80% of the total gamma dose that
my kids received living in Albuquerque... Based on continuous TLD
measurements with my control dosimeter at my house in Albuquerque.
Dan ii
--
Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Perle, Sandy
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 14:42
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
Chris,
I particularly am amused at this paragraph from Yablokov:
"During the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, only 1.5 percent of
the available fuel there got into the atmosphere. Only 1.5% - and the whole
northern hemisphere suffered. About 500 million people received an increased
and in some places lethal dose of radiation. Even now, each year thousands
of deaths occur because of the radiation sickness caused by the ingress of
radiation. A person falls ill even from the very small doses just above
background radiation..."
1. 500 million people exposed and many potential lethal dose!
2. each year thousands of deaths occur because of the radiation
sickness caused by the ingress of radiation!
3. Most notably this comment, "A person falls ill even from the very
small doses just above background radiation..."
Really? By this statement I would assume almost 100% the world's population
would be ill if the small dose just above background causes illness. What
about geographical areas where a person can receive 50 mSv/yr background?
What about all of the medical procedures, the highest opportunity for
collective as well as individual dose? These statements from Yblokov mean he
has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. He is just another Ralph
Nader and the rest of those who really believe that one photon can cause
radiation illness.
Regards,
Sandy
-----------------------------------
Sander C. Perle
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-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Busby, Chris
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 9:45 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List;
The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
Well, so far on the basis of death toll, you will excuse me if I say
Chernobyl outweighs all of these by orders of magnitude. I know you guys
think only a few firemen died, but this isnt so.. Alexey Yablokov is right.
Gogman calculated 980,000 in 1990. All the studies have been done. Here is
my paper on the issue.
Cheers
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Jeff Terry
Sent: Mon 20/06/2011 23:24
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
Well, if we are using radiation related fatalities to date as the metric in
Fukushima, we cannot leave out:
"Jackass" co-star dies in car crash in Pennsylvania as its one fatality
exceeds the radiation tally in Fukushima.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-jackass-dunntre75j4u2-
20110620,0,5962651.story
Jeff
On Jun 20, 2011, at 4:01 PM, Brennan, Mike (DOH) wrote:
> Here are some from Wikipedia. I am not saying these are the biggest, as
they only cover a brief slice of time, are mostly Northern Hemisphere, and
are mostly catastrophic events, as opposed to long term health crushers like
Black Lung Disease (so if you are going to say, "but Fukushima potentially
will have long term effects," I suspect I could come up with 10 of those
without much problem, too.)
>
> December 3, 1984: The Bhopal disaster. Estimates of its death toll range
from 4,000 to 20,000. The disaster caused the region's human and animal
populations severe health problems to the present.
>
> April 16, 1947: Texas City Disaster, Texas. A minimum of 578 people lost
their lives and another 3,500 were injured as the blast shattered windows
from as far away as 25 mi (40 km). Large steel pieces were thrown more than
a mile from the dock. The origin of the explosion was fire in the cargo on
board the ship. Detonation of 3,200 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer
aboard the Grandcamp led to further explosions and fires.
>
> 1932-1968: The Minamata disaster was caused by the dumping of mercury
compounds in Minamata Bay, Japan. The Chisso Corporation, a fertilizer and
later petrochemical company, was found responsible for polluting the bay for
37 years. It is estimated that over 3,000 people suffered various
deformities, severe mercury poisoning symptoms or death from what became
known as Minamata disease.
>
> August, 1975 The Banqiao Dam flooded in the Henan Province of China due to
extraordinarily heavy rains, killing over 26,000
>
> April 26, 1986: Chernobyl disaster. At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
in Prypiat, Ukraine a test on reactor number four goes out of control,
resulting in a nuclear meltdown. The ensuing steam explosion and fire killed
up to 50 people with estimates that there may be between 4,000 and several
hundred thousand additional cancer deaths over time. Fallout could be
detected as far away as Canada. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, covering
portions of Belarus and Ukraine surrounding Prypiat, remains poisoned and
mostly uninhabited. Prypiat itself was totally evacuated and remains as a
ghost town.
>
> January 15, 1919: The Boston Molasses Disaster. A large molasses tank
burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35
mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has entered local
folklore, and residents claim that on hot summer days the area still smells
of molasses.
>
> March 25, 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. This
was a major industrial disaster in the U.S., causing the death of more than
one hundred garment workers who either died in the fire or jumped to their
deaths.
>
> March 10, 1906: Courrières mine disaster in Courrières, France. 1,099
workers died, including children, in the worst mine accident ever in Europe.
>
> October 21, 1966: Aberfan disaster was a catastrophic collapse of a
colliery spoil-tip that occurred in the Welsh village of Aberfan, killing
116 children and 28 adults.
>
> September 21, 2001: Toulouse, France. An explosion at the AZF fertilizer
factory killed 29 and injured 2,500. Extensive structural damage to nearby
neighbourhoods.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Busby, Chris
> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 1:39 PM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
>
>
> What industrial catastrophes are bigger than Fukushima?
> I cant think of one. But maybe there is one. Certainly not 9.
> I mean Industrial right. Not earthquakes and stuff like that.
> If we call the atmospheric tests an industrial catastrophe then that one
certainly.
> Also the use of uranium weapons in GW2.
> But thats probably not as bad in terms of health effects as Fukushima will
be. You wait.
> Chris Busby
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Brennan, Mike (DOH)
> Sent: Mon 20/06/2011 21:35
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
>
> While I don't choose to guess at the amount of activity released at either
Chernobyl or Fukushima beyond "a whole hell of a lot", I don't think I agree
that Fukushima has or will result in "higher collective exposure". Firstly,
there was some hours between the end of criticality and the beginning of
release at Fukushima. This means that many of the isotopes with the
shortest half-lives had enough time to decay away before release began,
unlike Chernobyl. Second, at Fukushima the first portion of the release,
which is potentially the hottest, was blown out to sea, as opposed to at
Chernobyl, where there was inhabited land in every direction (some,
obviously, more densely inhabited than others).
> Third, a significant portion of the released activity is in water, going
to the ocean, where the impact on human health will be limited.
>
> I am not for a moment saying that Fukushima isn't a disaster. I am not
even saying that it is unreasonable to compare it to Chernobyl. Heck, I am
not even saying that something can't happen and make Fukushima worse than it
is. However, I don't believe that it is useful to engage in hyperbole.
>
> This morning a concerned citizen sent me an article from Al Jezeera in
which an activist claimed, "Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe
in the history of mankind". It certainly is not, and probably isn't in the
top ten.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Busby, Chris
> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 11:15 AM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List;
The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
>
>
> My estimate is
> Chernobyl
> about 10^19 Bq
> Fukushima about 10^19Bq but more local so density greater and higher
collective exposure due to Tokyo Hiroshima more difficult, maybe 10^14
including the Uranium But I agree, not easily comparable with Hiroshima
since that involved high level prompt gamma and neutrons Chris
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Brennan, Mike
> (DOH)
> Sent: Mon 20/06/2011 17:41
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
>
> I am not sure if the question of how much radioactivity was released at
Hiroshima is a meaningful question, at least when trying to put it in
perspective with Chernobyl and Fukushima.
>
> There are several reasons for this. The first is that the explosion at
Hiroshima produced blast and heat that killed people (though not
> everyone) out to a range past where the radiation dose would cause acute
problems. At Chernobyl the blast killed a few people (I am not sure how
many), and at Fukushima no one was killed by blast.
>
> Second, at Hiroshima much of the radiation was produced by fission, so
"curies" isn't an appropriate unit, in much the same way it isn't for
machine produced radiation. There was a substantial amount of radioactive
material produced, and there was some exposure to people from the fallout,
but that wasn't the main source of dose. At Chernobyl a reactor core that
was (for a brief time) at more than 100% power was blasted into the air,
then roasted in a graphite fire for days. At Fukushima there was a release
into the air some hours after criticality ceased, and a large amount of the
radioactive material has been trapped in water that either went into the
ocean or is still on site.
>
> Third, the isotope mix of what was released is very different between the
three. This come into play in that the release of, say, 1,000 Ci of
> I-131 has different consequences than the release of 1,000 Ci of I-129.
> Weapons tend to have a higher percentage of very short half life isotopes,
reactor fuel that has been use a while has a higher percentage of longer
half-life isotopes. Also, with reactors the amount of time between the end
of criticality and the release will impact both the amount of activity and
the isotope mix.
>
> I bring all this up because it is a natural tendency to ask questions like
this, then equate "more" with "worse". In this case, I don't think that the
intentional attacks of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be
> meaningfully compared to Chernobyl and Fukushima.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Theo Richel
> Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2011 11:17 AM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList;
The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] How many curies were involved in Hiroshima
>
> Could anyone please give me some facts on how much radioactivity
> (curies) was released in: Fukushima, Hisoshima, Chernobyl
>
>
> Much appreciated
>
> Theo Richel
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Well, so far on the basis of death toll, you will excuse me if I say
Chernobyl outweighs all of these by orders of magnitude. I know you guys
think only a few firemen died, but you are wrong. Alexey Yablokov is right.
All the studies have been done. Here is my paper on the issue.
Cheers
Chris
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