It’s been over half a decade since Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi
nuclear plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown due to the effects of a
tsunami which struck the island nation, but scientists are only just now
confirming its far-reaching effects. After conducting the
first worldwide survey to measure the ultimate radiation exposure caused
by the reactor meltdown, researchers at the Norwegian Institute for Air
Research finally have a figure on exactly how much extra radiation
humanity was exposed to.
According to the group’s data,
over 80 percent of the radiation that was released by the meltdown ended
up in either the ocean or ice at the north and south poles. Of the
remaining radiation, each human on the planet received roughly 0.1
millisievert, which equates to about “one extra X-ray each,” according
to the team.
That amount of radiation isn’t likely to have much of
an effect on humanity, however, and in comparison to the normal amount
of radiation each of us receives over the course of a year, which can be
as high as 3.65 millisieverts on average, it’s hardly anything. In
fact, as NewScientist notes, a typical CT scan exposes you to
15 millisieverts on its own, and radiation sickness doesn’t occur until
you reach the 1,000 millisievert threshold.
Obviously, those
living the the vicinity of the reactor, especially in the immediate
aftermath of the meltdown, can expect to have received a good deal more
radiation as a result, but the researchers still believe the overall
exposure to have been negligible in the grand scheme of things. Of
course, the robots sent in to do the dirty work haven’t been nearly as lucky.
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