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Radioactivity in US from Japan
Monday, 04 April 2011 12:57

Looks like some radioactive material has made it to the US.  No danger as of now.  Let's hope that trend continues.

EPA STATEMENT: Update on Ongoing Monitoring  

WASHINGTON – As a result of the incident with the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, several EPA air monitors have detected very low levels of radioactive material in the United States consistent with estimates from the damaged nuclear reactors. These detections were expected and the levels detected are far below levels of public-health concern.



Elevated levels of radioactive material in rainwater have been expected as a result of the nuclear incident after the events in Japan since radiation is known to travel in the atmosphere - precipitation samples collected by EPA in the states of California, Idaho and Minnesota have seen very slightly elevated levels of radiation.  

In addition to iodine-131, EPA monitors have also identified trace amounts of other isotopes, which we expected to see because they are consistent with releases from the damaged Japanese nuclear reactors.

To see results from these precipitation samples, please visit www.epa.gov/japan2011/docs/rert/radnet-precipitation-final.pdf

Comments

avatar Nancy
0
 
 
As bad as it is, radioactive Iodine is the least of our cocrenns. RadioactiveCesi um (half-life: 30years), and the worse of all Plutonium (half-life: 24,000years)is something that there is no escape from. Where there is one radioactiveisot ope released into our environment there are the others. The amounts reaching the states are so far below levels to be of any real practical concern, especially on the East Coast. But remember, the situation is far from over. The Fukushima Reactor is still spewing radioactive material into the atmosphere and seawater, and radiation levels in the U.S., Canada, and across into Europe will rise. That's the way it is!The best we can do to help ensure the future survival and viability of all life onearth yes, all life on earth, is to seriously go back to the drawing board and plan for safer energy alternatives solar, wind, whatever! The technology is already here. But do it now! Just one single accident, as we have in Fukushima, totally invalidates any and all advantages of nuclear energy, for the immediate and untold consequences of one single accident, as we are now witnessing, are horrific for both the present and for the future. Let's not be in denial.
Wednesday 03 October 2012, 11:12
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