Radioactive Rain

We have a heavy rain today. I live in Fukuoka, the west area of Japan. We often have a rain all the year round. This is the feature of the climate in the northern shore of the island of Kyushu. Here is more than 1,000 km far from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant. Although it might be far enough to avoid radioactive contamination, I’m a bit more careful about radioactive rain now.

Most people live here don’t care about radioactive contamination since they believe that the water, vegetables and fruits made here will not be contaminated. They believe that radioactive materials don’t come here. I also didn’t care so much about contaminated water, food and rain, even when I stayed in Tokyo. I drank tap water and ate anything the restaurants served. I got wet in the rain, and I bought a package of strawberries made near Fukushima. My hometown is Tokyo so I sometimes go back to Tokyo. My parents don’t care if the food they eat is contaminated or not. When I return their home, my mother makes delicious dishes with local food for me!

The other day, I listened to a talk of Dr. Kastuma Yagasaki, who have studied nuclear physics for over 40 years, and have testified for A-bomb disease certificate lawsuits.
He emphasized that ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection), which is the standards of Japanese government’s radiation risk managements, almost disregards internal radiation exposure, which is more serious than external exposure. “Internal radiation exposure, particularly α-radiation strongly damages a limited part of your body and destroys DNA double helix. This could cause a cancer. If you take only 1/10,000,000 gram of radioactive iodine 131, and the iodine stays in your body for 8 days, you will be exposed to 1 Sv of radiaion,” he said.

What is radiation?


How does radiation damage DNA?


As you know, 1 Sv radiation exposure could cause an acute disease, such as weariness, nausea and a decrease of white blood cells. It also increases the risk of cancer. Fukushima nuclear power plants scattered huge amount of iodine 131 and other radioactive materials all over Japan, and speak more widely, they scattered them all over the world!

According to Yagasaki, rain is easily united with radioactive materials and could carry them to the place more than 1,500 km far form the original point. That means West Japan may not be safe from radioactive contamination. “All people live in Japan would be better to avoid getting wet in the rain, and should be more careful about radioactive food,” he said.