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Bigcmcg said:

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PoloDown said:

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Bigcmcg said:
Or maybe how our oceans are FUBAR as well as our food supply.

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I think this is in reference to the Fukushima reactor going ape shit again?

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Correct and it may not be beyond repair but that was my was of saying that there has been significant damage done to that particular ecosystem from plankton to the salmon and tuna harvested for human food purposes.

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Have you looked at how many Bq of natural radioactive isotopes there are on the Pacific Ocean alone as compared to the Bq of long-term isotopes released by the Fukushima incident? Additionally, have you looked at the actual numbers behind the significant isotopes released and how badly they bioaccumulate up the foodchain? Its a lot less of a threat than most people think, unless you are eating fish bones and clam shells. 

Just saying...there are plenty of things going on in the world:

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MyExample said:
The cumulative burning of coal that releases massive amounts of radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere all of the time, the lack of push towards disposing of electronics the way they should be disposed of rather than throwing them in the garbage, the horrid misuse of land in the name of agriculture in the face of obvious solutions, etc...all towards that oh so meaningless bottom line...

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that should worry you more than the minute amount of long-term radioactive material released during the Fukushima event...

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Bigcmcg said:
http://

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It was reported on March 16, 2011, that potassium iodide tablets were given prophylactically to U.S. Naval air crew members flying within 70 nautical miles of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant damaged in the massive Japanese earthquake (8.9/9.0 magnitude) and ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011. The measures were seen as precautions, and the Pentagon said no U.S. forces have shown signs of radiation poisoning. By March 20, the US Navy instructed personnel coming within 100 miles of the reactor to take the pills.[38]

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There is your reason...its a precautionary measure. Its also good to note that KI tablets are used in nuclear medicine (cancer treatments and the like), as the essential dietary supplement added to salt, as an expectorant to help clear the respiratory tract, etc.

Additionally, KI tablets are only effective for 24 hours, only protect the thyroid, and only against a few iodine isotopes (most commonly I-131) which has a half-life of 8 days. It has been estimated (and recently backed up by empirical data) that the isotopes entering the water in japan will take roughly 2 years to reach the west coast of North America. During this time, not only will the leakage have diluted over a billion-fold, but the amount of I-131 (which made up a significant portion of the isotopes released) will have decayed down to 0.00000000000000000000000000034 times its original amount.

The Cesium isotopes and tritium are of minimal concern as well since there is minimal bioaccumulation. Tritium dilutes more effectively than any other isotope mentioned (into the water and the air, minimizing its net contribution to counts per unit volume).

The isotope of most concern is Sr-90 because it has a decent half-life and bioaccumulates very readily; however, it accumulates primarily in places where calcium accumulates (bones, shells, other stuff that you typically don't consume anyway). But by the time you run through a couple of years of ocean life, the vast majority of this isotope will be locked up in bone and shell material of larger marine life or detritus at the bottom of the ocean. If any of this drifts into the deep ocean currents, then we won't see it again for a few thousand years (in 1000 years it will have decayed to 0.000000000018 times its original amount).

If you truly are scared, stop eating sardines and other whole fish. At this point you have a higher risk from methylmercury and naturally occurring isotopes in your fish fillets than the synthetic isotopes released by Fukushima...