What the west coast is watching

[..]

http://radiationnetwork.com/

[Bonzo]

Very interesting, thanks!

[thumper]

This is going to be bad.

Listen to the scientists....not the government spokespeople.

Clean information is critical at a time like this.  Hell, we've never had a time like this.

[X Ring]

Let's remember something.  The radiation from Chernobyl, which didn't have the safety measures the Japanese reactors do, didn't go past 1200 miles with the majority of the radiation within 600 miles.  The probability of anything more than minimal radiation reaching Hawaii or the West Coast is very small. 

That being said it is a very serious and scary situation to watch and it's even scarier for the Japanese people being triple whammied by an earthquake, tsunami and now a multiple reactor nuclear incident.  My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Marty

[Valker]

The nation of Japan has not had an envious history with nuclear things. I have read that fire is a near phobia because of the Tokyo fire bombing in WWII and the thin paper based housing they used to have.
It is not a good time for them right now, but I am sure they will recover stronger than ever.
If you go down to the Gulf Coast (NOT New Orleans,  but east of there where Katrina actually hit) there is still unbelievable damage even here and after all these years.

[F6Dave]

When I was growing up, the US and the USSR tested literally dozens of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.  The fallout took years to dissipate after the test ban treaty.  It's amazing anyone is still alive!

The damage from the natural disasters in Japan will surely dwarf anything caused by the nuclear plants.  Remember, last year many of these same media sources told us the Deepwater Horizon oil spill would be the worst environmental disaster in history.

[Rocketman]

Also keep in mind that it is not the media's job to keep people informed.  It is the media's job to keep people watching.  I just watched a ridiculous report by CNN's "chief medical correspondent", in which he warned in dire tones and big headlines that the radiation levels on his dosimeter had QUADRUPLED in 36 hours!!!  Then, almost as if in passing, he mentioned that it was brand new. 
So, reading between the lines:
He received a brand new dosimeter, that had seen some normal radiation, probably stored in a lead-lined bag to prevent accidental exposure, prior to deploying them.  So, it's at the minimum level that it can read.  Now it's FOUR TIMES THAT!!! 
Four times barely over zero is still barely over zero.  Pay attention to what units people use, and the precise comparisons they use.  Frequently news reports change units in the middle of a report, and don't explain it.  Sometimes this is done out of ignorance of how to describe scientific information, and sometimes it's done out of an intent to deceive.  It's often hard to distinguish between malice and stupidity.
(That last sentence seems to be my phrase of the week.)

Bottom line, any radiation increase outside of the immediate area is minimal at this time.  I would bet that throughout if you handed a radiation expert all the readings from sensors on our west coast from the worst day of this incident, and the same sensor's readouts from any random day last year, he would be hard pressed to guess which is which.

Mark