a meltdown about a meltdown
May 12, 2011 6:10 PM Subscribe
Asking from a position of almost complete ignorance, and to reassure anxious family members: Would today's news of the full meltdown at Fukushima cause you to cancel a planned trip to Kyoto this July? Can you give me some hard data about the radiation danger of a week in Kyoto versus (say) the radiation danger of a trans-Pacific flight?
Best answer: The radiation level in Kyoto is 0.037 μGy/h.
The exposure of a round-trip Tokyo-NYC flight is 200 μGy.
So, after you have spent over 225 days in Kyoto, you will have absorbed as much radiation as you did during your flight.
posted by Jairus at 6:21 PM on May 12, 2011 [6 favorites]
The exposure of a round-trip Tokyo-NYC flight is 200 μGy.
So, after you have spent over 225 days in Kyoto, you will have absorbed as much radiation as you did during your flight.
posted by Jairus at 6:21 PM on May 12, 2011 [6 favorites]
I don't have any hard data, but I am a resident of Kyoto. There had better not be any danger. :)
Seriously, Fukushima is several hundred miles away, and the wind blows mostly into the Pacific. Maybe my old hometown San Francisco is in more danger.
Tokyo with its 13 million residents is much, much closer to Fukushima than Kyoto. If there were any legitimate worry, you would see movement in Tokyo before you saw it in Kyoto.
posted by zachawry at 6:21 PM on May 12, 2011
Seriously, Fukushima is several hundred miles away, and the wind blows mostly into the Pacific. Maybe my old hometown San Francisco is in more danger.
Tokyo with its 13 million residents is much, much closer to Fukushima than Kyoto. If there were any legitimate worry, you would see movement in Tokyo before you saw it in Kyoto.
posted by zachawry at 6:21 PM on May 12, 2011
And in case you were curious: airborne radiation in Tokyo is at background levels.
The news of the meltdown, while a serious issue requiring a rethinking of strategy for the clean-up, does not seriously affect the rest of Japan outside of eastern Fukushima.
posted by armage at 7:32 PM on May 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
The news of the meltdown, while a serious issue requiring a rethinking of strategy for the clean-up, does not seriously affect the rest of Japan outside of eastern Fukushima.
posted by armage at 7:32 PM on May 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Just got back from a trip to Tokyo (6 days) and Kyoto (1 day). It's perfectly fine, no one is worried. They didn't even bother to run a Geiger counter over me when I got back to the US.
There were a bunch of earthquakes (around 5.0) while we were over there; about one a day. Aftershocks from the main event, and it wouldn't surprise me if they continue for many more months. But a 5.0 earthquake in Tokyo or Kyoto is nothing to worry about either.
posted by sbutler at 7:50 PM on May 12, 2011
There were a bunch of earthquakes (around 5.0) while we were over there; about one a day. Aftershocks from the main event, and it wouldn't surprise me if they continue for many more months. But a 5.0 earthquake in Tokyo or Kyoto is nothing to worry about either.
posted by sbutler at 7:50 PM on May 12, 2011
BTW: Tokyo and Kyoto were wonderful and I'm so very glad I did not cancel the trip. Go! Not only will you have a great time, but the people of Japan desperately need foreigners to regain confidence in traveling there.
Here's the US State Department's Japan Travel Alert (safe 50+ miles outside Fukushima). And here's what Secretary of State Clinton said at the Tokyo US Embassy on April 17th:
And I also know that the -- having your families back is a very big deal. And we were delighted to change the travel advisories on Friday to encourage Americans, once again, to travel to Japan, to do business here, and to be part of helping in any way we are able to do.
posted by sbutler at 8:07 PM on May 12, 2011
Here's the US State Department's Japan Travel Alert (safe 50+ miles outside Fukushima). And here's what Secretary of State Clinton said at the Tokyo US Embassy on April 17th:
And I also know that the -- having your families back is a very big deal. And we were delighted to change the travel advisories on Friday to encourage Americans, once again, to travel to Japan, to do business here, and to be part of helping in any way we are able to do.
posted by sbutler at 8:07 PM on May 12, 2011
In terms of radiation, you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about from Fukushima if you are in Kyoto. I'm in Chiba, and from all available information, I've got nothing to worry about either, and I'm just two prefectures south of it. Kyoto is far, far away. You'll be fine.
While you're there, make sure to try out Daitoku-ji and Fushimi Inari-Taisha. You won't regret either, they are stunning.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:30 PM on May 12, 2011
While you're there, make sure to try out Daitoku-ji and Fushimi Inari-Taisha. You won't regret either, they are stunning.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:30 PM on May 12, 2011
It melted down soon after the earth quake and tsunami. Everything bad that is going to happen already happened, in terms of radiation and leakage, etc. It's not going to get significantly worse at this point.
posted by empath at 7:40 AM on May 13, 2011
posted by empath at 7:40 AM on May 13, 2011
If your family members are genuinely completely ignorant, a good first step might be to have them look at a map. They may be suffering from "everywhere everywhere else is the same place" syndrome. Kyoto and Fukushima are as far apart as New York City and Washington, DC (based on my quick googling around.) If your family members saw, "Kyoto is HERE. One of the largest cities in the world is HERE. Fukushima is HERE, and the winds go this way, and by the way here are some mountains between us," they might feel more at ease.
I'm irrationally charmed that Google's default directions for Kyoto to Fukushima are public transportation.
posted by endless_forms at 7:50 AM on May 13, 2011
I'm irrationally charmed that Google's default directions for Kyoto to Fukushima are public transportation.
posted by endless_forms at 7:50 AM on May 13, 2011
Have fun at SMBE!
posted by SandiBeech at 8:43 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by SandiBeech at 8:43 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Beautiful day in Kyoto today. Here you can monitor the daily terrifying rollercoaster of radiation levels in Kyoto.
posted by planetkyoto at 6:51 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by planetkyoto at 6:51 PM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Hey, planetkyoto, can you direct us to how to get those data for other cities in Japan? It would be interesting to make comparisons (if there are comparisons to be made, and if there aren't, that would be interesting too.)
posted by endless_forms at 8:44 AM on May 19, 2011
posted by endless_forms at 8:44 AM on May 19, 2011
Thank you! It is, in fact, interesting!
posted by endless_forms at 9:27 AM on May 20, 2011
posted by endless_forms at 9:27 AM on May 20, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by phunniemee at 6:19 PM on May 12, 2011 [3 favorites]