[ RadSafe ] Fukushima beta radiation burns

[Strickert, Rick]

Excerpted from the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/radiation-levels-reach-new-highs-as-conditions-worsen-for-workers/2011/03/27/AFsMLFiB_print.html -  

"One subcontracted worker who laid cables for new electrical lines March 19 described chaotic conditions and lax supervision that made him nervous. Masataka Hishida said neither he nor any of the workers around him was given a dosimeter, a device used to measure one's exposure to radiation. He was surprised that workers were not given special shoes; rather, they were told to put plastic bags over their street shoes. When he was trying on the gas mask for the first time, he said, the supervisor told him and other subcontractors, 'Listen carefully, I'm only going to say this one time,' while explaining how to use it.

"When Hishida finished his work shift, an official scanned his whole body for radiation. He came up clean, except for the very tip of his beard. He was sent into a shower where he lathered up and scrubbed his beard. He was tested again and passed.

'A few days later, still worried about the extent of his radiation exposure, he trimmed his beard.'


The Post internet article included a picture (http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/03/27/Foreign/Images/2011-03-27T041744Z_01_YON305_RTRIDSP_3_JAPAN-3312--606x404.jpg) showing an ungloved hand holding what looks like a large GM detector covered with a plastic bag, with the thin-window end pointed at a person's face about 2 inches away.   Comments on this picture are left as an exercise for the HP reader. 


Rick Strickert
Austin, TX