[ RadSafe ] Radiation [sic] released right after Fukushima accident was much more than first estimated

[Stewart Farber]

Hi Roger, 
A much better news item to read on the subject of higher releases is a
Reuters news item reporting that the  World Health Organization [ WHO ]
report [ "WHO releases mixed Fukushima radiation report" ] has been issued
regarding the  doses received in Japan [ actual numbers !! ] and around SE
Asia and the world.

See:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/23/us-fukushima-idUSBRE84M0IA20120523

The above report provides some very good info about the magnitude of doses
which puts them in perspective vs. natural background exposure and other
sources of common annual dose.

It is interesting that  the Reuters summary news item Roger cites reports
that the:

"Radiation released right after Fukushima accident was much more than first
estimated"

This, of course, is very misleading. The RADIOACTIVITY released may have
been twice or so as high, but TEPCO and others are not reporting that the
RADIATION dose was 2.5 times higher. This is an important distinction since
the field dose measurements were a major factor in decisionmaking during the
early stages of the accident since all sensors were knocked out by the
earthquake and tsunami. 

The present headlines actually make it ambiguous if the actual RADIATION
doses were much higher. The bottom line that I find interesting is that more
radioactivity was released to result in a given measured dose. That is, the
dispersion of the actual radioactivity released was greater now that we have
better data.

I am actually quite surprised that the current headlines in the general news
articles on the recent information did not read something to the effect
that:

"Radiation 'spewed' from Fukushima higher than estimated", since almost all
media reports didn't just report " Radiation [ sic Should read:
radioactivity ] released from Fukushima higher than estimated". 

It's a given that radioactivity [ which in the media and public mind is
identical to radiation ] vs. any other pollutant,  is not just "released",
but "spewed".

Stewart Farber
farber at farber.info
==================
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Helbig
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 4:24 AM
To: RADSAFE
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Radiation released right after Fukushima accident was
much more than first estimated

Note the emphasis; they score more points in their drive to shut down all
nuclear plants.

New post on nuclear-news

Radiation released right after Fukushima accident was much more than
first estimated

by Christina MacPherson

Fukushima radiation higher than first estimated,  By Kevin Krolicki TOKYO  
 May 24 (Reuters) - The radiation released in the first days of
the Fukushima nuclear disaster was almost 2-1/2 times the amount
first estimated by Japanese safety regulators, the operator of the
crippled plant said in a report released on Thursday. Read more of this post

Christina MacPherson | May 26, 2012 at 12:37 pm | Categories:
Fukushima 2012, incidents | URL: http://wp.me/phgse-6mP

http://nuclear-news.net/2012/05/26/radiation-released-right-after-fukushima-
accident-was-much-more-than-first-estimated/