It's been about 5 days now since panic really set in, and as more information has come out, things have gotten a little less stressful. My friend Jenn, who studied phyiscs at MIT, told me she believes we are safe, so long as there is no major sustained fire/explosion to hurl the really dangerous radioactive particles our way. Fortunately for us, we are some 270 miles from the plant, on the other side of a large mountain range, so - barring any major worsening of the situation - we should be relatively unaffected. Even levels in Tokyo, which is on the same plain as the plant and about twice as close, are only 10-20x higher than usual. With sustained exposure at that level for an entire year, its populace would only be receiving about the level of radiation a nuclear power plant worker might be expected to receive in an ordinary, non-crisis year of work - ie higher than usual, but well within "safe" limits (for perspective, we're talking between 20-50 milliSieverts a year; 100 milliSieverts is the lowest level at which an increase in cancer rates becomes observable).
Still, considering how many catastrophic, unexpected events have already taken place, it is certainly not out of the question to believe such a fire/explosion could happen. I talked with my boss about the possibility of taking a temporary leave from work, and he said this is pretty much out of the question. We're only allowed to stop working if a family member becomes tragically ill/dies, so for everyone screaming "come home! come home!" I would simply like to remind that, though I would obviously rather be safe than sorry, I'd also rather stay here another year if I can, and would prefer not to just leave all my things behind, or totally abandon my responsibilities. So for the time being - until/unless the State Dept. says all Americans should leave the country, or things get so potentially catastrophic that I simply can't take it anymore - I'll be hanging around here.
On a final note, I would like to thank everyone for their concern. I know in America, it seems foolish to stay here when I could leave the country, especially without a full understanding of the situation (not that anyone could ever understand it enough to make a 100% perfect choice), but I'd just like to reassert that, should I perceive myself to be in serious danger, I will definitely return. Until then, please continue to keep your fingers crossed, and do keep talking to me - I promise not to be morbid if you promise not to freak me out. Sound good?
In the meantime, feel free to enjoy this video for a fun, friendly reminder of why everything will be a-ok.
No comments:
Post a Comment