Even if the Japanese nuclear plants exploded … there is no danger of radiation fallout here in the US. (ask me how I know)
All the Fantasy-Islanders running about screaming THE PLUME, THE PLUME notwithstanding, I’ll try to dig out my various radiation monitors (including the handy-dandy wristwatch) to see what pops up tomorrow as the radiation KILLS US ALL here on the west coast. My bet is I won’t detect much of anything.
You won’t detect anything, because your monitors don’t do well at that micro-level. There’s little danger. That said, there IS some danger, and the prudent person prepares to shelter in place. That’s all, it’s all about being prudent.
Could you take some readings today to get a base level to compare tomorrows “OMFG WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE” results with?
My best friend – a highly intelligent and technical type who I’ve worked with for years – appears to be freaking out about this.
I guess Radiophobia is as powerful as arachnophobia or claustrophobia. If you’re wired for it you are going to lose your shit no matter how unreasonable the fear is.
Guy – Have your friend search on “hygiene hypothesis” (the idea that regular, low-level exposure to germs conditions your immune system to fight off bad stuff better), and “Radiation hormesis” (the idea that regular, low-level radiation conditions your genetic-damage-cleanup / cancer-fighting systems to better deal with damage caused by radiation. Specifically, look at the study dealing with the Taiwan apartments built using a lot of cobalt-60.
OTOH, some people seem to need something to freak out about just to say happy, and the media, the left, and the military have spent a LONG time drilling in the the dangers of radiation, and the LZT (Linear effect, Zero safe Threshold) understanding of radiation.
So, is it the geek consensus then that this threat is of such a low level that it needn’t be prepared for AT ALL?
Ya know, hoplophobes use this reasoning ALL THE TIME to say we don’t need guns….
I’m not sure if it’s the general geek consensus that you don’t need to do ANYTHING, but speaking as someone who has had a year+ of food on-hand since well before Y2K, has had masks and filters for about as long, has bought peas & lentils from the Huffmans by the (fractional) ton, has more ways to ward off waves of zombies than your average suburbanite, and has taught HS physics, biology, and earth sci (which includes meteorology), and lives in the PNW, *I’m* not worried in the slightest about local or regional radiation issues.
I’m much more concerned with the economic consequences, and rise in prices spurred by panic buying by those not as well prepared, and crappy government pronouncements and plans that the event will generate, and the potential dumb things the panicked masses will do / push for (politically). As far as preps: get more exercise, check supply rotations and levels (hmmm… need more 1″x3″ band-aids; kids can go through a lot of them), and buy some needed “made in Japan” product to help their economy recover.
Slight clarification to my previous post: I’m not worried because I’ve made all needed preps, but rather that in my (moderately well-educated, but non-expert) opinion, there isn’t any any radiological problem to be worried about and make preps for, as far as dealing with radioactive fallout and such-like…
“that it needn’t be prepared for AT ALL?”
It’s a good idea to have KI on hand along with the rest of your medical supplies.
If you are running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off and paying $250 for a small bottle of KI right now because you’re terrified that the japan nukes are going to kill us all then sorry, you are REALLY overreacting. When I said my friend was panicking that’s what I’m talking about.
Well, every time I go to my timeshare in Puerto Vallarta, I bring back several 45 cc bottles of their “gotas Purificadas, which they sell in the veggie sections of all the supermercados. It’s iodine, and it cost less than $2 per bottle. I keep enough on my boat to purify about 500 gallons of filtered river water.
I also have some old Iodine water purifying tablets from the ‘Nam days. There’s Iodine all around us in various consumable forms, you don’t have to pay through the nose for the pills.