Ill. nuclear reactor loses power, venting steam

[FBaggins]

20. "Do some science for once"

What a crock. Thanks for the laugh.

CHICAGO — The trace amount of radioactive tritium released in steam to cool a reactor during a shutdown at an Illinois nuclear plant was not enough to present a danger to the public, according to the first estimates by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Preliminary calculations indicate that the radiation dose from Monday’s release at the Byron Generating Station was less than 0.001 (one one-thousandth) percent of the commission’s annual dose limit of 100 millirems. That amount is thought to be safe to workers and the public, agency spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng said.

“That is a very, very, very small amount,” Mitlyng said, much less than the dose from a dental X-ray (0.5 millirem) or a smoke detector (0.008 millirem). Exposure to radiation increases a person’s lifetime risk of cancer, so minimizing exposure is a good idea.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/nuclear-regulator-estimates-low-level-of-tritium-released-at-stalled-northern-illinois-reactor/2012/02/02/gIQAFArbkQ_story.html

That's right. If you have a smoke detector in your home... you're getting a higher dose.

Of course... given how irrational paranoia works... I expect few true believers to adjust their actions based on actual science. It's far more likely that they'll take this news to mean that they need to get rid of their smoke detectors. Heaven help 'em if they unknowingly wear radioluminescent watches. The tritium dose would be many times as high.