Balanced discussion about Radioactive Particles coming to Coastal California

I'm posting the well written, well balanced look at the effect of radioactive particles dropping on coastal Marin below because it is deserves attention. The author is a local photographer with a huge appetite for accurate information and a matching heart. Leo Seiler

I'm grateful you pointed that out Mr. B***- and I'm even more grateful that you utilized the word 'may' as regards the 'conclusions' you cite.

At the risk of being ridiculed (who cares?), I'd like to offer some thoughts.

I think you were being kind in your address as regards the analogy of a 'flight to DC' being 'misleading'.

In addition to your very accurate dissemination, it should be also noted that; A flight lasts for the duration of the flight time and then it is over, as is any exposure to radiation one may have suffered as a result'.

This rain, on the other hand, with it's radioactive particulate matter, will continue to play it's role, and with that, the radioactive levels from each respective isotopic particle, with decay rates which do not 'quickly dissipate', will continue to rise. In other words, as long as the Japanese reactors release radioactive material, the Pacific Jetstream will deliver it to other destinations and it will 'gather'. It becomes part of our environment. We don't 'exit' our environment at the end of our daily 'flight' as one does a plane. We live in it.

These radioactive isotopic particles will get on our clothes, our food, door handles, clothing, into soil. Cows and chickens will drink and eat it...not to mention it's showering the Pacific Ocean...and on and on to things we haven't even considered- because that's how it is with these type of 'human experiment' catastrophes. Most of it will decay rapidly. Some of it will not.

The people who put out this report know that.
When I see statements like the 'airplane analogy'?
Or the one which claimed that 'Corexit' is as safe as dish soap?
Or the new gem; 'People need to stop hoarding Potassium Iodide'?

(Doesn't something need to be available on the shelves, in order for someone to 'hoard' it? Isn't that a fundamental part of the process known as 'hoarding'? To be able to acquire 'that' which one wishes to 'hoard'? Potassium Iodide is part of every Earthquake Emergency Preparedness Kit! Is there a 'bad time' to encourage a home without such a kit, to acquire one, Given potassium iodide is one of the few known protective measures one can take against radiation poisoning?)

When I hear the conversation drop to that level of misinformation, it's definitely 'way past time' to do some research of my own.


https://www.atmos.umd.edu/~tcanty/hysplit/
It would appear that the reason we have detected such low levels of radiation in Berkeley and other areas is because we have been favored by the winds. Of course if 'extremely radioactive particles' with dangerous decay rates have indeed made it here across the Pacific- one would have to come across the exact longitude and latitudinal coordinate in order to contact or detect such radioactive particles. In addition, say there is a house at such a 'landing location'- then one would have to check the roof, the lawn, inside the house- (did it come through a window or that leak in the bathroom? Did it get lodged within a broom as it was swept up?)

Such 'radioactive particles' are not as easy to locate as one might think. That is why I am of the belief that our best bet is to have as many monitoring stations as we can have as a community. There is no 'remediating' radiation exposure and especially 'radioactive particulate matter' once it has been inhaled or ingested.

In this important interview from Dr. Helen Caldicott (thank you S!)- she goes over some of the more dangerous materials that are indeed part of the Fukushima's Reactors- take notes if you can, especially on the decay rates of nuclear materials:

https://eddieleaks.org/2011/03/15/bernstein-caldicott/
West Marin just hosted the Geography of Hope Literary Conference and the GOH Film Festival. Recurring themes at both events revolved around the idea of the 'interconnectedness of life' across our planet. I was very grateful (and still am) that such an 'idea' is recognized as a 'reality' here. It would be ironic for such a community as West Marin to momentarily lose that vision at a most intrinsic moment.

I would like to humbly suggest to the community that this event, if it continues to escalate, could indeed affect us here. Here are the 'Fukushima Radioactive Plume Dispersion Models'. They show us 'why' we have only had minor amounts of radiation transferred as of yet. The winds have thus far transported the plumes Northward into Alaska and beyond- perhaps to Eastern Canada. We are literally at the mercy of 2 things:

1) Whether a full meltdown occurs- (Question: If 1 reactor goes, does that mean they all go?)

2) The course and of the Pacific Jetstream or 'Pacific Vapor Canopy'.

What the community has to choose for itself, again IMHO, is whether it wishes to become informed about the 'potentialities' or whether it would rather be 'surprised by them' once a worst-case-scenario presents itself.

I see no harm in[/FONT] racing to determine and disseminate to the community at large:

1) How many different 'radioactive isotopes' we are dealing with total- here is one
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthenium

2) Which of them can be absorbed by or have effect upon the human body? and

3) What are their respective decay rates?

4) What are the different types of potential radiation we should know about?
https://orise.orau.gov/reacts/guide/define.htm


Most importantly we need to know how much of 'what' it takes to give children thyroid cancer as they are at much higher risk and what we can do to protect them is priority…or ‘should be priority’.

(If one needs a selfish reason in order for the concept to make sense, try thinking of children as the future ‘you’, and then meditate upon 'saving your own future'.)

No one should predict that we are 'all going to be blanketed' with the type of radiation levels that we are watching Japanese residents and Emergency specialists bravely endure.

It is responsible to point out however, that there are in fact, many types of nuclear materials, some of which, if released into the atmosphere, certainly will be 'ghastly' to encounter wherever they land. The decay rates for such materials such as 'plutonium' and 'cesium' guarantee that potential.

We all have a lottery ticket and none of us knows 'what the odds are'. Promises of 'no danger whatsoever' are as irresponsible as 'promises of armageddon' and vice versa. Even people who lived near Chernobyl survived that catastrophe. People long distances away in Europe today still suffer the repercussions from that same event.

Here are the most recent updates of significance regarding the state of the Fukushima reactors- it is not difficult to determine that those closest to the danger, were caught 'off-guard' by how much worse the situation is as opposed to what they had believed and reported to the press, prior to having a crew exposed to deadly radiation levels without sufficient safety equipment. That 'overly zealous optimism' will cost those workers their lives.

Keep in mind- if we got the news today that the cores were melting down beyond control- we would have 4-5 days before the winds/rains reached us:

https://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-25/reactor-core-may-be-breached-at-damaged-fukushima-power-plant.html

https://nuclearfreeplanet.org/articles/new-problems-at-japanese-plant-subdue-optimism.html

https://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11084/1134565-82.stm

https://nuclear-news.net/category/1-nuclear-issues/safety-and-incidents/fukushima/

Mr. B*** Wrote:
"The important thing is how much radiation, over what length of time, and where in or on your body it's delivered."

I agree with Mr. B***'s statement but another variable of utmost significance which should be added is the 'current immune system level' of any individual encountering harmful radiation. An individual who is ill by way of dealing with a disease, or a virus or even a cold is more susceptible to harmful radiation than an individual who is perfectly healthy. That is just one more reason to cherish our community youths and elders by doing what we can to protect them- even if it is only by way of information.
P*E*A*C*E*