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0 pointsslapshot10y ago0 comments

Somebody did this. Before the experiment, they expected a background level of Cesium 137 of between 1 and 2 bq/M^3 (caused by 1950s nuclear testing, which released a ton of it). They found actual levels between 1 and 2 bq/M^3 across the Pacific with some small variation above and below: http://ourradioactiveocean.org/results.html

Think about it this way. Worst-case estimates are that 2-4 kilos of Cesium 137 were released. If it all ends up in the ocean, the total Pacific Ocean weighs on the order of 638,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilos. The total new Cesium 137 is: 0.000000000000000000627% of the ocean. At a 30 year half-life, that's one decay event per 70 liters per hour.

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mrschwabe10y ago

Thanks for the headsup - but there's nothing wrong with some competition and not to mention getting more coverage; for example it doesn't look like they have any data near the coast of Fukushima preficture which is the most important spot. Also the monitoring does not appear in realtime and if we are getting nitpicky there are certainly a few UX issues with how the data is presented.

On a related note, I'm sure Ken Buesseler is a good guy and his site is nice and I have nothing bad to say about him; I don't know him - but you can find comments about him from people who claim he's a "nuclear shill" and so regardless as a matter of principal it would be prudent to get more independent researchers involved in gathering data.

gh02t10y ago

> but you can find comments about him from people who claim he's a "nuclear shill" and so regardless as a matter of principle it would be prudent to get more independent researchers involved in gathering data.

You can also find a large number of people on the Internet who claim Obama is a lizard alien (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/polling-theory-embarrassment-453096). This comparison is hyperbole, I know, but his data and methodologies are peer-reviewed and support his claims. He's far from the only person studying the issue, it's a hot topic (pun intended) https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=fukushima+radiati... .

SapphireSun10y ago

I think the exact position of the dumping matters though. Unless the ocean is well mixed, the concentration will not be uniformly distributed. For instance, the entire stream might stay integrated as it travels along deep ocean currents (not saying that's actually the case by any means).

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mrschwabe10y ago

gh02t10y ago

SapphireSun10y ago

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