ktvu 2 "rad levels higher than allowwed"
KTVU 2 news reports that rainfall contains higher than allowed levels of radiation. Obama told us it would not reach the US. Berkeley told us levels were no threat. The news is now telling us the truth. Can the people at the UC please explain how higher than legal allowable levels of radiation are no risk? Were these laws set using no scientific data?
Obama said it would not
Obama said it would not reach the US? Are you telling the truth? Did he really say nothing would reach the US, or did he say that no levels of concern would reach the US? Can you provide evidence for your strong assertions?
The NUC department has openly and convincingly shown that the current levels aren't of concern, unless you drink the unfiltered rainwater in large quantities. What is that radio station using as basis for it's assertions?
This is a subtle and challenging situation not just for people in CA, but more importantly in Japan, and you're not going to make people's lives here or there easier by spreading misinformation.
KTVU is a TV station in the
KTVU is a TV station in the bay area. Watch the news if you are in disbelief.
You may not be concerned.
You may not be concerned. But I believe these circumstances warrant alert, not dismissal.
It's true that the rainfall
It's true that the rainfall was high in radionuclides, but unless you were drinking straight rainwater (cistern as a water source) there will be reductions in concentrations as it moves from rain to tap water. The NUC folks are working to quantify just what that amount is, and how much will stay in the environment at length.
What was the source of the stations data?
I plan on eating food grown
I plan on eating food grown with and showered by this rainwater. Also I believe much of this rain water ended up in our lakes and watershed. Don't blow off radiation. These are the most toxic elements.
The problem is we have the
The problem is we have the folks who "know" about these things telling us everything is fine. On the other hand nobody really knows. They are still researching. Iodine pills are not available so let's hope these good people "know" what they're talking about.
It seems to me the folks
It seems to me the folks running these test's at Berkley have no motive to give you false readings or false hope that these are safe levels. Being an educational institute it would seem the opposite. Remember they have no obligation to share any of this with us, they just are.
But that doesn't mean readings are different elsewhere. Could you provide a link to the KTVU 2 report that says there are higher levels? I couldn't find it on there site anywhere.
Do you really believe they
Do you really believe they do not have to share information about nuclear fallout over the US. If that's true might as well cut this program. This is a concern for people around the world. The reactors in Japan have not been contained, and it is unclear how many radioactive materials have escaped into the atmosphere. The world has never seen a meltdown of 3 or more reactors at once. Also you should note the exotic fuels released into the air, effects unknown.
Radiation ldvels
I don't feel that there will be a sugnificate level of disclosure as the government will not want to create wide spread public panic. Any disclosure and counter measures will be limited to state and local officials. We, if the message is to be made public, it will have to come from reliable sources such as students of berkley directly going to the media.
Well, I didn't look to deep
Well, I didn't look to deep into it, but I honestly do believe that Nuclear Engineering Dept. at Berkley was not required to set up this part of the website and public forum and conduct all these tests. I get the feeling they are doing it out of curiosity, local Bay Area public service and educational purposes. But somebody from this Dept. would be able to answer that question for sure.
Although this is of great concern to everybody, I think it is the job of other government agency's to protect the public and provide safety information. The fact that other agency's are not that good at it and you can find better info here is another story.
What has the surgeon general
What has the surgeon general to say about all of this ?
The UC has federal funding
The UC has federal funding for many of its programs. Maybe stopping a panic is the bosses order. The news report was on TV 40 min. Ago.
The news barely mentioned
The news barely mentioned this. The story about a superbug that kills 40% and antibiotic resistant also barely mentioned. Strange.
You cannot rely on Obama! He is not honest
Obama wants us to stay enthusiastic about nuclear power.
What are you telling people?
What are you telling people? Obama has proven to be one the biggest advocate of renewable energies, from the investment stage to the implementation stage, of all presidents ever, and most alternative candidates would push for fossil fuels (including off-shore exploration) and nuclear energy much harder than him. You're lying to people, not Obama. The truth is that as long as everything goes well nuclear energy is MUCH cleaner than fossil fuels, which causes many more cases of cancer each year than Fukushima ever will. The truth is also that renewables, with the exception of solar, can not and will never provide enough electricity to allow for the exorbitant consumption we all are taking part in (I'm quite sure you included). And solar takes investments and years to get to the level were it can be considered to replace things like nuclear and fossil fuels. Obama has tried hard to increase the levels of investment, including education, for solar exploration, and against a HUGE amount of resistance from the right has had astonishing success. Hopefully if he has his way we will one day be able to get rid of nuclear and fossil fuels. That is if people like you and I will consume less and stop hate-mongering against him just because he can't solve all the problems at once, including preventing 9.0 earthquakes and Japan taking sub-optimal measures to prevent tsunamis destroying their power plants. I just can't believe how narrow-minded and weak some people are. If people like you and the rest of the republican party had their way (and it looks like they're currently having it) science in this country, including exploration of cleaner energy sources, would be dead.
Bought and sold by nuke industry
Sorry, my friend, Obama is bought and $old by the nuclear power industry. Same old policies, different face.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/obama-hearts-nuke-giant-e_b_8...
Don't get me wrong, I was
Don't get me wrong, I was for Obama and still am, but I am disappointed how he participated in downplaying this fallout from the beginning. Instead of saying, we wait for happens, he said he was sure that it will not be a thread.
That is what I am upset about. And by the way, I am not republican. I am pro Obama, I just think he should be more careful with making reassurant statements in a crisis like that. It sounds to me denying part of reality.
@ucb scientist
Aren't you at least a little surprised by the strength of Obama's support of nuclear power as the fukushima crisis was still developing? I'm not sure if he'd still be supporting the $36 billion loan to the nuclear energy if he truly wanted to "one day be able to get rid of nuclear and fossil fuels."
Also you have a huge caveat in your statement: "as long as everything goes well" -- things aren't going well at Fukushima with 3 reactors + 4 spent fuel storage pools still at high risk and things certainly didn't "go well" at Chernobyl so I think people are at least a little bit skeptical of relying on things to go well in the future.
I do think your point is well taken regarding consuming less. We could all go a long ways towards consuming less energy -- there's lots to be done in terms of more fuel efficient cars and buildings in our country and around the world. In the end as a Obama supporter I think it's becoming obvious that his stance on big business isn't very progressive.
Although I am not sure of
Although I am not sure of Obama's stance on nuclear energy, I am sure Obama said "Nuclear fallout poses no threat to the people of the USA." Why would he say that? Our water is already showing harmful amounts of radiation, according to government standards. I hope everyone will be fine, but let's be realistic this is a massive amount of radiation being released.
Obama is not a scientist but
Obama is not a scientist but he has some of the smartest ones advising him on issues like this one. He himself doesn't sit down at a computer cluster and calculates source terms for radioactive emissions and weather patterns to forecast how much will hit the US. So he asked his smart advisers to give him a best bet and that best bet was that nothing of health concern will hit the US. So far that assessment has held up quite well. When you say "our water is already showing levels of concern" you're unintentionally (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt) misleading the public, including people who are already concerned like pregnant women, because you're taking about rainwater (which is vastly more concentrated than tap water), and you're also not providing a trustworthy source for the statement that the rainwater is "harmful", were one to drink it in unfiltered form. From all we know from the measurements done by the NUC department even drinking rainwater is not harmful at this point. My guess is what that radio station was referring to were limits for long term fallout from precipitation which would contaminate the soil (if it's mostly Cesium, which it is not since the bulk of the radiation at this point is coming from short-lived iodine) for generations to come.
I grew up in post chernobyl europe and am the first to be alarmed. And I am alarmed. Fact of the matter is that at this point soil deposition levels are likely over an order of magnitude lower than they were in France and Germany, which is somewhat reassuring. However the world has together to try to fix Fukushima. So I recommend that instead of bashing you work on mobilizing a movement and tell the government and president (who's right now busy fighting off insane attacks from the right for his not bombarding Lybia early enough) that we want the US to help Japan stop this. My gosh we should have sent specialists there long time ago since the people in this country are hurting bad and also since it is now affecting our own soil. It's unbelievable that the world community is not working together to solve this unimaginable crisis. Like all of humanity is on some ignorance drug. Five specialists were finally sent over from France, and we should be grateful to them, but come on, that's all the world can do beyond bashing and ranting?
I agree
This has gone far beyond the realm of political bashing. Clean up should be our most important priority.
It should be pointed out that these forums were created to give us a chance to ask questions and open discussion regarding the findings from the UCB staff working on this project. We should refrain from using it as a forum for political discussion, lest it get out of hand and they have to shut down the forum. This has been and keeps happening at other sites I check. I really hope this doesn't happen here.
Correct, the original post
Correct, the original post asks how levels of radiation above the legal limit can be called harmless.
The original post is
The original post is misleading.
The post is pointing out
The post is pointing out that the general public has been told many misleading facts. Does the public know how long an 8 day half life is. Are the levels of strontium or barium being recorded? So many questions so few answers.
Also that our very own
Also that our very own Nuclear Regulatory Committee is not willing to release any of the readings/data they are receiving from the Japanese is extremely suspicious. If there is nothing to hide then why not release it?
There are TONS of FOIA requests to them for info on this
http://nrc.gov/
Another oddity is Google Earth. If you go look at Fukushima Nuclear Plant they have animated the buildings. None of the other nuke plants are done that way. The date they had for the images was 3/18/2011. What are they hiding?
And all those debunkers out there. Please give me a reasonable explaination for this shroud of secrecy?
we are being poisened we need to face the truth
Dear Readers:
we need to face the truth. At a time of despair and our longing for reassurance and knowing, we are not giving answers. We need to deduct our answers ourselves. I personally have been feeling the xenon gas in my hous for 2 weeks, especially at night, the air feels thick. I mentioned this before, my roommate became unconscious for no reason, I had 2 seizures with the feeling of not getting enoug air. Xenon is used to induce unconsciousness in anesthesia.
The US government is covering up!! Why are we not being told about the massive xenon cloud coming as we speak?
let's get real!! this has nothing to do with fear monging, we need to wake up and stop expecting answers from all the authorities, which they will not give us. I agree the thing with google earth is more than scary. Do they want to hide the massive fumes coming out of there? Why is the American Public not in riots of the lack of information?