Japan Radiation part 1

Radiation.

Nuclear Power plants.

Thats been on my mind ever since 3.11

Its hard to really discern between accurate and useful information,

and what just increases confusion, frustration, and fear in me.

Over the months,

I have amassed quite a bit of info,

so I'll share those slowly.

I think the trick about exploring difficult unpleasantries such as radiation,

is how to channel it into engaged proactive positive energy.

I'm still working on that....

Here is a map illustrating how people from different areas perceive the area of radioactive contamination is. I don't think its based on statistical data but its sounds right from my few interactions with people and listening to the news. (Click to enlarge)

(from http://iii4iii.posterous.com/69052813)

Where people from different regions think the contamination is,

Top left to right:

The people of the Tohoku region (Northern areas), Kanto (including Tokyo), Hokkaido, and the very right is TEPCO, the corporation responsible for the power plants

Bottom left to right:

Kansai (including Osaka and Kyoto), Okinawa (South most islands), foreign countries, and the very right are the Japanese politicians.

*for those not familiar with Japanese geography,

the further the perceiver lives from Fukushima the larger the imagined contaminated areas are, and the perceivers are not included in the imagined contamination zones.

Although this is highly a generalised map and probably not based on an actual scientific survey,

it embodies an interesting point about perspective. I definitely get the sense that people in America and perhaps other countries think all of Japan is radioactively contaminated.

That does not seem to be the case according to radiation surveys.

What do you think in terms of what areas were irradiated,

and what source of information are you predictions based on?

Also, here is an interesting simulation map of the ground deposition of caesium by CEREA.

They also have a moving simulation of the radioactive particles spreading on their website,

that shows the plumes moving west of Fukushima toward the West Coast.

http://cerea.enpc.fr/en/fukushima.html

Useful tip:

When thinking about radiation, its helpful to understand that radiation doesn't immediately kill you or make you sick. How it affects you depends on many factors, like what type of radiation it is, how you were exposed to it, how long you were exposed to it, and your physical condition.