According to this, the total annual background exposure in Denver is 11.8 MILLIsieverts per year, which is 11,800 microsieverts per year, which is 32 microsieverts per day, which is 1.3 microsieverts per hour.
http://isis-online.org/risk/tab7
Current rate in Tokyo is 0.049 microsieverts per hour. The Denver rate is 27 times the current Tokyo rate, primarily due to radon gas in Denver, but that is not quite right and is an overestimate because it depends what is included and excluded, outdoors versus indoors, etc.
The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends evacuation of a locality whenever the excess radiation dose exceeds .1 rem per year. But that's one-third of what I call the "Denver dose." Applied strictly, the ICRP standard would seem to require the immediate evacuation of Denver.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...444059332.html
http://isis-online.org/risk/tab7
Current rate in Tokyo is 0.049 microsieverts per hour. The Denver rate is 27 times the current Tokyo rate, primarily due to radon gas in Denver, but that is not quite right and is an overestimate because it depends what is included and excluded, outdoors versus indoors, etc.
The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends evacuation of a locality whenever the excess radiation dose exceeds .1 rem per year. But that's one-third of what I call the "Denver dose." Applied strictly, the ICRP standard would seem to require the immediate evacuation of Denver.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...444059332.html
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