Posted by blackhawk Fallout isn't stationary.
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A few things:
The Green Zone has been repeatedly swept, and is in fact slated for rehabitation in the near future. Further exams are focused more on the infrastructure safety due to the prolonged neglect of the area.
Fallout
is stationary. After a nuclear event (be it a meltdown or explosion), nuclear material is released into the environment in the form of radioactive dust - when you're dealing with radiation-contaminated water, it's not the water itself (H20) that's radioactive, it's the cesium
in the water. This dust will spread around and downwind of the event site over the course of anywhere between a few days and several weeks, depending on the size of the event and the weather - rain will transport radioactive material, but ultimately brings down the radioactive dust quicker, compared to arid environments where the dust remains aloft longer/farther.
After the dust settles, while there's some risk of it being sent aloft again (especially in dry environments), it is for the most part stationary. Dust that falls onto dirt is absorbed into the soil and absorbed by plants along with water. Dust that falls onto roads and sidewalks stays there and is less vulnerable to being washed away by further weather conditions; for this reason, roads and stone structures will carry significantly higher risks of being radiation hotspots compared to wooden structures or natural areas.
Given that Fukushima was not a nuclear blast, and rather a release of nuclear materials, the buildings surrounding the site are for the most part intact, and relatively little amount of dust was released into the atmosphere - compared to a nuclear event, that is, where the blast itself produces a large quantity of nuclear material and the ensuing firestorm creates more and spread the dust further. As a result, the interior of buildings are
relatively safe - for anything inside to be contaminated, radioactive dust would have to get into the building first. Take a look at old 50s buildings that still have their Fallout Shelter signs - interior rooms with no windows, and no worries of dust.
That's not to say that the Red Zone isn't dangerous, and that materials inside the Red Zone aren't at risk of being contaminated - quite the contrary, in fact, everything inside that area should be considered dangerously radioactive until considered otherwise; just because it's unlikely that dust gets into the buildings doesn't mean it can't, or hasn't. However, what I'm getting at is to nip the idea that radioactive zones are somehow mobile in the bud. The hotspots at this point are relatively well established (allowing for safe traversal of the Red Zone by trained guides), in fact.
Source: USN buddy of mine is a nuclear engineer, helped consult around the time they were drawing up protocols for containment and safety. He will, and
does, talk my ear off about all the common misconceptions about radioactive safety.