Computer components post Fukushima

But the area around Fukushima where Radiation is a hazard has been evacuated/cleared has it not? The factories will be well away from this area due to any industry inside the quarantine area having been shut down when the accident happened.

I could be wrong but I think the chances are extremely low, like you say contamination of food for the local population will be the largest risk.
 
So your expecting the radiation to penetrate and stay concealed within these products even though they go through radiation tests at customs to try and prevent any nuclear warfare.

Not only that, but your then expecting these products to posses enough radiation to expell it in high enough levels to affect someone (namely you)?

Your probably sat, reading this and breathing in more radiation particles from the earth than what would be given to you in computer products.

Penetrate?

Did you read my OP, or watch the enclosed video? You seem to be under a common misconception.

The radiation which threatens to contaminate (and already has in some cases) exports is the physical elements thrown out of the reactor(s). Elements such as Caesium, Strontium, Uranium and even Plutonium.

They're in the form of very small particles, and they were airborne in great quantities in March and April, and they're still being released now albeit in much lesser quantities.

It is these 'hot particles', which pose the greatest threat to our health. It is these particles which irradiate and will continue to do so for hundreds, and in the case of Plutonium, hundreds of thousands of years.

People need to stop thinking of radiation as simply the irradiating rays themselves, this is why any comparisons to X-rays and the like are nonsensical and intentionally misleading.

Think of these 'hot particles' as grains of sand. Well imagine billions of these grains of sand being fine enough to become airborne and fine enough to go unnoticed by the naked human eye. Grains of 'sand' that you can easily inhale or ingest. This is what the Japanese are dealing with, and in a much lesser extent us - when we consider the possibility of a small, but nonetheless still harmful amount of these particles being present on an export we purchase unwittingly.

I seriously doubt our government is conducting stringent checks for such contamination, have you any idea how costly that would be? Much more economical to play down the risks and continue as if it's business as usual - which alarmingly it appears to be just that, for some businesses at least.

Besides, depending on what type of radiation these 'grains of sand' emit, should they be contained within a package they may be entirely impossible to detect without opening the said package - even with a geiger counter. And this is due to the varying strengths of the irradiating rays they release.

You can find the differences between the different types of emitters (Alpha, Beta and Gamma) here, explained in Layman's terms;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSiNXBLfzK4

And to be frank, your last comment is entirely nonsense.
 
Think of these 'hot particles' as grains of sand. Well imagine billions of these grains of sand being fine enough to become airborne and fine enough to go unnoticed by the naked human eye. Grains of 'sand' that you can easily inhale or ingest. This is what the Japanese are dealing with, and in a much lesser extent us - when we consider the possibility of a small, but nonetheless still harmful amount of these particles being present on an export we purchase unwittingly.

I hate to break it to you, but you are currently contaminated by trace amounts of Uranium and Plutonium right now, this isn't from Fukishima though (where the primary containment held), but from chernobyl (where the primary containment failed and the fuel rods burnt in air for hours) and nuclear weapon tests. However, these traces are tiny and in the scheme of things negligible (much like the radiation of your computer order).

Since this is your first post/thread and the only thing you have talked about is radiation (on a UK computer forum) then I suspect that you don't really want to buy a computer - just win some greenpeace points. Well done, you can have 5.
 
Besides, depending on what type of radiation these 'grains of sand' emit, should they be contained within a package they may be entirely impossible to detect without opening the said package - even with a geiger counter. And this is due to the varying strengths of the irradiating rays they release.

Oh dear....
If the packaging is enough to stop the radiation being detected, what's the problem?
 
The levels of radiation in the areas you mention (ie not even in the same country as the nuclear meltdowns - which by their nature were relatively local events) peaked at levels lower than the standard background radiation levels in Cornwall and Aberdeenshire. (I remember the US TV report of the "toxic cloud" blowing over from japan to the US - it looked very scary on the pictures, but in reality it was only a few % more than the standard background radiation in the worst spots)

If you are worried that the "elevated" levels in the locations where your computer components are made then you are highly overestimating the level of radiation you will be exposed to from these components as well as the health effects of very low levels of radiation. (There have been studies done on food grown in areas near the accident and they have been judged safe for humans to eat - never mind components to go in a computer made thousands of miles away).

Radiation has travelled across the entire Northern Hemisphere.

St Louis, US;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdlJzZYCEwM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKTCS_CHXeY

Toronto, Canada;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDSpCxjZ2D8

It would be logical to assume the contamination would be much greater in the immediate vicinity of Japan, for example; just south in Taiwan - would it not?
 
you will definitely have to watercool your parts, nuclear fission produced a lot of heat!
 
You are paranoid. Fukushima is on the eastern coast of Japan, with prevailing winds blowing East into the Pacific. The radiation hazard is primarily limited to an area that is known as the rice bowl of Japan, it's primarily agriculture / fishing.

You get a bigger dose from living near Granite rocks, flying Airplanes or breathing the random particles that get dumped out of the Jetstream.

Besides, go look at a map - Japan is a large distance from China where this stuff actually gets made.
 
Radiation has travelled across the entire Northern Hemisphere.

It would be logical to assume the contamination would be much greater in the immediate vicinity of Japan, for example; just south in Taiwan - would it not?

Just because radiation has travelled and the reading is higher that before does not mean it is going to do you harm, you need to compare the actual radiation levels to the "maximum safe levels", not compare them to the normal background levels and assume that anything higher than normal is bad.

Maybe this will put things in context.
 
Just because radiation has travelled and the reading is higher that before does not mean it is going to do you harm, you need to compare the actual radiation levels to the "maximum safe levels", not compare them to the normal background levels and assume that anything higher than normal is bad.

Maybe this will put things in context.

You've provided no evidence to support some startling claims, with the usual gross generalising and disingenuous information used in a manner to support your argument, which is not uncommon of someone from your quite apparent standpoint. Could you start with providing some reputable evidence to support this;

"The levels of radiation in the areas you mention (ie not even in the same country as the nuclear meltdowns - which by their nature were relatively local events) peaked at levels lower than the standard background radiation levels in Cornwall and Aberdeenshire."

Regardless, I've already explained in great depth the differences between the source of radiation which is polluting the Northern Hemisphere and that of natural background radiation. Despite these differences, Radon (the source of much of the West Country's naturally high background level) is second only to smoking as the greatest cause of lung cancer in the UK.

And with regards to checking the 'maximum safe levels' which entirely subjective 'safe levels' are you referring to?

The Japanese now have a 'safe' level for Plutonium in drinking water, and Japanese children are now allowed to be 'safely' exposed to 20mSv of radiation a year in schools as it's now below legal limits - the maximum level permitable for an adult working at a German nuclear power plant.

Is that safe?

This is going off topic now, but until I see evidence to the contrary, I think it's highly likely goods manufactured within the immediate vicinity of Japan will carry an amount of radioactive contamination, however significant or insignificant, courtesy of events at Fukushima Daiichi.
 
OOOH BALOTELLI, HES A STRIKER...HES GOOD AT DARTS...AN ALLERGY TO GRASS BUT WHEN HE PLAYS HES ....... CLASS....OOOH BALOTELLI!

Seriously though, i am not worried about my PC components being contaminated. If they i am in contact for at most 1hr? if that. Then its put in my case and forgot about.

Also are you a Man City fan or just a really random username?
 
Ok, i think this is my last post in this thread - since it has literally nothing to do with PC components. If you want to have a discussion about the effects of the nuclear meltdown, radiation in general or the nuclear industry then the place for this thread is in the "General Discussion" part of this forum, not "General Hardware".

As for hard numbers, this Taiwanese newspaper said on April 5th:

For Thursday, the council forecast that the maximum impact of the radioactive dust on the nation would be 0.0223 microsieverts per hour, which remained lower than the natural background value of 0.1 microsieverts per hour, it said.

In comparision, the yearly dose of background radiation in Cornwall is around 7.8 milisieverts (ie 0.89 microsieverts per hour)- hence the radiation due to the dust was 2.5% the background radiation in cornwall (and only for a short period - not throughout the whole year).

If you want some none-scaremongering PC-related advice then please feel free to make a new thread and I will try my best to help. If not then I reckon this would suit you.
 
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OP needs to get a grip on reality, probably spends all day worrying about whether or not to drink water for fear of drowning.
 
wow can I buy some of this stuff? Get my i5 (currently in the post, yikes) to hit 7ghz on green ooze, or maybe I can use these grains of sand instead of thermal compound
 
op, seriously, dont buy another computer, in fact, get rid of the one you have, go sit in your nuclear bunker (couches pushed together with cushions for a roof i expect) and tweak your tin hat you loony :p
 
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