Radiation tainted Kronos?

MoonMusic · Post by **MoonMusic** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:19 pm

I know it's probably a stupid question but is it possible the new units coming into the US will have radiation? Please don't laugh at my stupidity either because I'm being serious...OK....Go ahead and laugh a little bit....moon

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:25 pm

not as stupid as you think...

Here in Chicago, we had nuclear alarms going off when a plane from Japan landed. Of course the government said not to worry, but WHAT ARE THE ALARMS FOR?! To tell you to worry, that's what.

Citizen Klaus · Post by **Citizen Klaus** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:43 pm

The emissions from Fukushima Dai-ichi and Dai-ni that are of most concern are heavy particulates -- radioactive dust, if that makes it easier to visualize. The prevailing winds have generally carried these particles out to sea, where the majority quickly fall into the Pacific Ocean. Unless Korg's manufacturing facility is literally right next to the reactor complex, it's likely a non-concern.

Also note that the compound which to date has caused the most concern, iodine-131, has a half-life of just eight days. Meaning, every eight days, half of the remaining iodine-131 particles naturally decay. Even if your Kronos were to have iodine-131 particles present on it, most of them would be rendered inert by the time your keyboard crossed the ocean on a ship, crossed the country on a truck or train car, and crossed the city or state from the shipping depot to your music store.

If that's not enough for you, remember that iodine-131 and cesium-137 (the other emission that has raised concern) damage the human body through ingestion. So, don't lick your Kronos.

Citizen Klaus · Post by **Citizen Klaus** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:00 pm

McHale wrote:not as stupid as you think...

Here in Chicago, we had nuclear alarms going off when a plane from Japan landed. Of course the government said not to worry, but WHAT ARE THE ALARMS FOR?! To tell you to worry, that's what.

It's worth noting that bananas also regularly set off radiation alarms, despite being completely harmless to humans. (Well, not completely harmless to your waistline, if you eat too many...)

Point is, the fact that an alarm went off does not always mean that worry is necessary.

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:17 pm

Citizen Klaus wrote:It's worth noting that bananas also regularly set off radiation alarms, despite being completely harmless to humans. (Well, not completely harmless to your waistline, if you eat too many...)

Point is, the fact that an alarm went off does not always mean that worry is necessary.

http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/stor ... 30kTw.cspx

dhmartens · Post by **dhmartens** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:03 am

Will there be a discount for irradiated Kronos? If so put me down for one.
Anyone have an extra Devo anti radiation suits?

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:28 am

That was a false alarm triggered by medical devices, according to this article from the Chicago Tribune:

"Traces of radiation turned up in cargo containers on two flights that landed Wednesday at O'Hare from Tokyo's Narita International Airport and an additional flight operated by American Airlines into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

"Officials quickly determined that the packages were safe, sources said. "To our knowledge no United passenger or passenger luggage has tested positive for elevated levels of radiation," said Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based United.

"On the two American flights, the isotope discovered was likely emitted by medical devices, which the carrier was shipping. The jets were quickly returned to service, said Tim Smith, spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011 ... ines-cargo

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:51 am

I'm not saying our government lies to us to cover things up, but our government has a history of lying to us to cover things up. I'm not a big believer of coincidences... Let's see, planes from Japan land after one of the a nuclear disaster and nuclear alarms at the airport (not near the plane) go off. Hmmm..... What are the odds?

-Mc

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:20 am

McHale wrote:I'm not saying our government lies to us to cover things up, but our government has a history of lying to us to cover things up. I'm not a big believer of coincidences... Let's see, planes from Japan land after one of the a nuclear disaster and nuclear alarms at the airport (not near the plane) go off. Hmmm..... What are the odds?

-Mc

Better questions:
* How often do radiation alarms go off?
* What is the normal response?
* Do responses since the recent nuclear crisis in Japan differ from the normal response?
* Has press reporting of such incidents changed since the nuclear crisis in Japan?

Since the follow-up article matches the predictions of science, I see no reason to suspect a conspiracy.

- Dan

Citizen Klaus · Post by **Citizen Klaus** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:26 am

McHale wrote:Let's see, planes from Japan land after one of the a nuclear disaster and nuclear alarms at the airport (not near the plane) go off. Hmmm..... What are the odds?

-Mc

It's worth keeping in mind that the Western media are grossly overexaggerating the significance of the Fukushima incident. And yes, it is definately an incident, not a disaster.

A disaster is 10,000+ people killed by the earthquake and the tsunami. From the breathless reporting on the 24-hour news circuit, though, you'd be hard-pressed to believe that, so far, only one person has died in conjunction with Fukushima, and that was a crane operator who was critically injured during the initial quake.

Fukushima is a sexy story for the media. It has spectacle (RADIATION!), is relatively easy to update in a play-by-play fashion, and lends itself to the spinning of many narratives by the punditocracy. The earthquake and the tsunami -- the real disasters -- are numbing and staid, by comparison.

But by choosing to focus primarily on Fukushima, the media risk misleading their audience about which has the greater human cost, and which is the greater cause for concern. The earthquake and tsunami produced a massive humanitarian tragedy. According to experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency and MIT's Department Nuclear Science and Engineering, even in the worst-case scenario, the long-term implications of Fukushima will be mild, especially for people living outside the immediate vicinity of the complex -- and even more especially for people living overseas.

I don't mean to suggest that the Fukushima incident isn't serious in its own way, but the level of attention being lavished on it by the Western media is vastly out of scale with its present and potential danger.

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:02 am

danatkorg wrote:I see no reason to suspect a conspiracy.

ALWAYS suspect the conspiracy.

If people didn't, Elvis would be dead, Oswald killed Kennedy, and Obama was born in the US.

WHAT FUN IS THAT?!?

StephenKay · Post by **StephenKay** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:39 am

Citizen Klaus wrote:I don't mean to suggest that the Fukushima incident isn't serious in its own way, but the level of attention being lavished on it by the Western media is vastly out of scale with its present and potential danger.

Well said - absolutely agree. Western Media = liberal agenda = nuclear is bad. This is a dream come true for them. They are using every opportunity to promote the message "nuclear is bad".

Ask yourselves this question: What would the potential environmental damage have been, had Japan been geologically gifted with huge resources of undersea oil, so that instead of being a nuclear energy culture (since they have no oil), instead the entire northeast coast of Japan was lined with deep-sea oil rigs? The environmental "disaster" (when the tsunami swept away and uncapped every single oil well) would make this current nuclear issue look like a toothpick. Of course, the liberal media would have liked that even better - look, oil is bad!

To paraphrase something I heard on the air the other day, credited to an oil executive: "wind farms and solar energy would be great - if we didn't need to turn on the lights every day."

peter_schwartz · Post by **peter_schwartz** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:48 am

I'll go ya one more, in the other direction...

I find a distinct bent in a lot of the media towards downplaying the seriousness of the radiation emissions and radioactive contamination in general. When the Japanese workers were recently reported to have had their legs "burned" by standing in water that had 10,000x the normal level of radiation, I found it highly suspicious that their injuries were characterized merely as "burns" and not what they obviously were -- radiation burns.

The situation in Japan is much more serious than what we are being led to believe... that is, if we are to believe by what we see/hear/read in the media. But as the media is by and large an entertainment medium, it should not be believed. It should be "interpreted" by thinking minds.

peter_schwartz · Post by **peter_schwartz** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:51 am

Now, on a more or less serious note (you can choose), and, since the OP invited commentary...

I know it's probably a stupid question but is it possible the new units coming into the US will have radiation? Please don't laugh at my stupidity either because I'm being serious...OK....Go ahead and laugh a little bit....moon

First of all, I'll bet you didn't know this, but you've come to the perfect place to get an informed answer to this question, because I know for a fact that this board is visited frequently by nuclear physicists who just so happen to work in Korg's manufacturing and shipping departments.

Though aside from the singularly mentioned radioactive Kronii, shouldn't we also be worried about other radioactive imports from Japan? I mean, what about...

• sake & beer
• cars
• Hello Kitty goods
• Pocki and all of those cool Japanese candies you get at the Asian market
• Roland stuff
• Yamaha stuff, including motorcycles, outboard motors, pianos, and band instruments
• origami paper
• anything at all made in Japan, even if it's made hundreds of miles away from the nuclear disaster zone

My feeling is this... if you're concerned, go buy a Geiger counter. No, really, I'm serious. Bring it to the music store (or the Asian market) and give your potential purchases a wave of the ol' clicker. If the needle goes into the red, well, time to buy a Clavia board instead, and hit up Ikea for some weird Scandinavian snack foods.

Oh, wait, didn't Scandinavia get doused by the Chernobl cloud some years back? Not sure what to recommend as a fall back position now, other than -- as already mentioned -- not licking your Kronos. Can't offer the same advice on Pocki tho...

StephenKay · Post by **StephenKay** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:05 am

peter_schwartz wrote:The situation in Japan is much more serious than what we are being led to believe...

This may be true. Japan's government and the nuclear regulators in that country may be covering up some of the problems.

However, the problem is not the US media covering it up. They would be happy to use any images available of charred, radiation burned flesh that you can provide them with. They would dance for joy and be unable to stop salivating over it.

The problem is: they are using this (so far not incredibly dangerous situation) to advance their ends: which is, to end the use of nuclear energy. Which is absurd.