Taiwan still safe in worst-case Fukushima scenario: AEC

At a press conference yesterday, AEC Deputy Commissioner Hsieh Te-chih tried to reassure the public that they have little to fear.

The distance between Taiwan and the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is roughly 2,200 kilometers; Radiation released from the ten reactors — traveling at an estimated speed of five meters per second — would result in an accumulation of 7.2 millisievert (mSv) per hour of radiation over a period of two days.

This is less than the 10 mSv/hr standard needed to warrant a mask, Hsieh explained. After seven days, the cumulative amount of radiation would be 25.5 mSv, still not at the 50 to 100 mSv level that necessitates evacuation, the deputy commissioner said.

Hsieh added that this is the absolute, worst-case scenario and that he had only given an extreme example to mollify public fears. In the past few days, phone lines and e-mail inboxes at the AEC office have been inundated with panicked inquiries on the effect of a nuclear meltdown on Taiwan.

Exposure to radiation is an everyday occurrence, Hsieh pointed out, adding that cancer patients receive radiation doses of up to 2,000 mSv for treatment.

It is unfair to term the situation in Japan “out of control,” he said, as there are still numerous containment vaults at the plant and the Japanese government is consistently working on the issue.

If members of the public have any concerns, they can go to the AEC website, which is updated 24 hours a day on radiation levels. As of yesterday, the levels in Taiwan are within the normal range, Hsieh said, between 0.04 to 0.1 mSv/hr against the natural radiation background of 0.2 mSv/hr.

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