Radiation Escaping News Today

What impact would it have on the food chain? can it contaminate someone else whats going on over there? >> thats the most important question actually. most of the -- one of the most prevalent radio isotopes, elements that are produced by figures reaction is radioiodine. the reason for that is that it is atomic number such that its half of the atomic number of the uranium, 235, and therefore if products contain a lot of iodine 131. iodine 131 could potentially if it goes into the food chain like ...

Those that relied on the coast they lived there for a reason. certainly a lot of people around the nuclear power plants and it has to be rebuilt from the ground up and no one is certain how it will happen at that point. people will wait to hear from the government if there will be temporary housing and shelter. you know, after the kobe earthquake, people said they earthquake, people said they heard a sooner and reacted quicker, and people are just kind of shrugging their shoulders wondering when...

And you have a risk that something worse could happen and we saw a preview of that. the international atomic energy agency reported yesterday based on japanese information there was a fire in the spent fuel ponds at unit 4. there you can have radiation material directly into the atmosphere. theres also been a worry that if they dont cool the reactor that you could have a meltdown. theres been a partial melting of fuel according to most observers and experts and that that could become worse and i...

A problem if spent fuel at that site becomes exposed. let me ask you about the threat to people. what is it -- let me get really basic here. the threat to human bodies of radiation. what is it? >> it damages -- in large doses, it can cause sickness. its called radiation sickness. you can damage the blood. you can vomit and in larger doses you can actually die and so you have to be very careful to reduce the risk and thats really what the workers face. thats why the site was evacuated. the dose r...

Significant effect even then. >> you mention the rain being a beneficial element here. it seems to me based upon my little information on this and check me if you can, when the rain comes down and takes nuclear particulates out of the air, the stuff you dont want landing on you, it lands in puddles, and if its snowing, it lands in the snow piles. apparently its still radiation. its still radioactive and on the ground and its still dangerous. >> thats exactly right. the thing is it keeps it from ...

A significant distance. as long as they keep this thing at least quasi-contained, there would appear to be no threat at all to us and even if it were to be bad by the time it got across the pacific the likelihood is that we would not have a significant affect even then. >> you mention the rain being a beneficial element here. it seems to me based upon my little information on this and check me if you can, when the rain comes down and takes nuclear particulates out of the air and lands in puddles...

Dose. this is the dose limit that we think based on mathematical modeling could be set at. we get cosmic rays which is about 2.4 milisevrs a year. there is no such thing as a safe dose. >> are americans at risk for radiation coming from japan? >> could you repeat the question? >> are we at risk in north america from whats happening in japan right now in terms of the dangers of meltdown in those four reactors over there? >> i think that would be highly unlikely. i think that just learning from th...

What happened in chernobyl could result in far reaching late effects of radiation. for example, in chernobyl, the risk of thyroid cancer increased amongst newborns and infants exposed at the time simply by ingestion of cow milk increased 87-fold. we knew that about 20 years later. in adolescents risk increased 12 -- as you get older, then obviously the risk for cancer induction is less because it depends on how much more years of your life span you have to live. >> i understand. >> next question...

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And therefore the upper level winds which are a lot stronger were able to move it downstream a significant distance. as long as they keep this thing at least quasi-contained, there would appear to be no threat at all to us and even if it were to be bad by the time it got across the pacific the likelihood is that we would not have a significant effect even then. >> you mention the rain being a beneficial element here. it seems to me based upon my little information on this and check me if you can...