sieverts

Human exposure to radiation is measured in units called sieverts.

Radiation Cleanup Confounds Japan Yumiko Ono 2011

Human radiation exposure is measured in units called sieverts.

Murky Science Clouded Japan Nuclear Response Yuka Hayashi 2011

Gilbert described what researchers know about an exposure of 0.1 sieverts, which is more than 50 times the average annual dose of an American nuclear-power employee.

NEI Nuclear Notes 2010

The Numbers Guy Blog Radiation Numbers in Damaged Japan Plant Becquerels, grays and sieverts all are internationally accepted units that quantify different aspects of radiation, while micro- and nano- are prefixes denoting one-millionth and one-billionth, respectively.

Radiation Math: How Do We Count the Rays? Carl Bialik 2011

By studying people who have been exposed to high doses of radiation, particularly survivors of the 1945 atomic bombs in Japan, scientists have derived a relationship between sieverts and the elevated risk of cancer.

Radiation Math: How Do We Count the Rays? Carl Bialik 2011

"Smart people know about sieverts and becquerels, so they've really got this sense of self-preservation, fear, suspicion," he says.

Japanese Nuclear Cleanup Workers Detail Lax Safety Practices at Plant Phred Dvorak 2011

One sievert, if experienced all at once, is likely to make you pretty nauseated, and 3.5 sieverts is the level that kills 50% of exposed people.

In Japan, Let's Stop Sweating The Small (Nuclear) Stuff 2011

Jacquelyn Yanch, a radiation physicist and senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that assumption is an appropriate standard for the workplace but might lead to overly aggressive evacuations in the case of Japan, where the true danger from contaminated areas likely is lower than sieverts would suggest because the release of radiation has been drawn out.

Radiation Math: How Do We Count the Rays? Carl Bialik 2011

The advantage of sieverts is that they allow public-health experts to estimate how much harm the radiation has caused.

Radiation Math: How Do We Count the Rays? Carl Bialik 2011

Many readings from Japan are stated in terms of sieverts per hour, and doses —and harm—accumulate over time.

Radiation Math: How Do We Count the Rays? Carl Bialik 2011