Dutch Harbor monitor registers highest radiation in US

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By RICHARD MAUER
rmauer@adn.com

Published: 03/30/11 9:52 pm | Updated: 03/30/11 9:53 pm

During the worst week of the Japanese nuclear crisis, the EPA‘s radiation monitor in Dutch Harbor recorded the highest levels of radioactive iodine fallout in the United States among reporting stations, the agency said.

Despite the relatively high levels in the Aleutian Island community on March 19 and 20, state and federal health officials continued to say Tuesday that the amounts of radioactive byproducts were way too small to pose a health risk.

“It may be high relative to the other readings, but it is inconsequential,” said Bernd Jilly, director of the state’s health lab in Anchorage.

The EPA report, issued Monday, is based upon laboratory analyses of filters and charcoal canisters on the monitors, and only a handful of stations were reported among more than 100 in its network.

To read the complete article, click here -> http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/29/1604937/dtuch-harbor-monitor-registers.html#ixzz1IJteuMWS

 

 

Radioactive Iodine-131 in rainwater sample near San Francisco was 18,100% above federal drinking water standard

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March 31st, 2011 at 06:33 PM

UCB Rain Water Sampling Results, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering:

Iodine-131 level in rainwater sample taken on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on UC Berkeley campus, March 23, 2011 from 9:06-18:00 PDT

20.1 Becquerel per liter (Bq/L) = 543 Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) — Conversion calculator here.

The federal drinking water standard for Iodine-131 is 3 pCi/L. (Press Release)

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://enenews.com/radioactive-iodine-131-in-rainwater-sample-near-san-francisco-is-18100-above-federal-drinking-water-standard

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Nuke crisis poses ‘substantial risk,’ no wider evacuation eyed: Obama

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WASHINGTON, March 17, Kyodo

President Barack Obama said Thursday the damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant posed ”a substantial risk” to people nearby, while stressing the U.S. government had no immediate plan to expand the scope of its evacuation order beyond an 80-kilometer radius of the troubled plant in northeastern Japan.

Speaking at the White House, Obama said that a U.S. decision to ask American citizens living within the 80-km radius of the quake-hit nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture to evacuate as a precautionary measure was ”based upon a careful scientific evaluation.”

While urging U.S. citizens in Japan to continue to monitor the situation, Obama assured the safety of the United States, saying, ”We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States, whether it’s the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska, or U.S. territories in the Pacific.”

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79102.html

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Gov’t orders local authorities to test for radioactivity in foods

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TOKYO, March 18, Kyodo

The government has instructed local governments to conduct tests for radioactivity levels in domestically produced foods using a provisional standard set up by the government for the first time ever, as a result of the evolving nuclear crisis at a Fukushima power plant crippled by last Friday’s magnitude 9.0 earthquake, ministry officials said Thursday.

”Although all the local authorities are required to conduct the tests, they will mainly be enforced on the fresh foods produced in municipalities related to the (nuclear power plant) accident,” said Kohei Otsuka, vice minister for health, labor and welfare.

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79062.html

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Japan radiation fears spark panic salt-buying in China

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By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times

March 18, 2011

Reporting from Beijing—

China tried to quell panic buying of iodized salt Thursday after grocery stores across the country were emptied of the seasoning by hordes of people hoping to ward off radiation poisoning after the nuclear accidents in Japan.

The clamor for salt reportedly started after rumors spread, possibly by cellphone text messaging, that China would be hit by a radioactive cloud from Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear plant, which had been badly damaged during last week’s earthquake and tsunami.

People were under the false impression that consuming enough iodized salt would protect against radiation and that China’s sea salt supplies would be contaminated as a result of the unfolding Japanese crisis.

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-china-iodine-salt-20110318,0,4281601.story?track=rss

No increased radiation so far in Southern California, air quality agency says

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March 17, 2011 | 11:28 am

No increased levels of radiation have been detected in Southern California since a nuclear power plant was damaged in Japan, the local air quality agency said Thursday.

“As of right now, we have not seen any change in the background levels of radiation,” said Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The agency monitors radiation on behalf of the federal government for the Southern California area at three regional stations.

“We’re going to monitor it minute by minute,” Atwood said. “Nobody is predicting anywhere near hazardous levels of radiation on the West Coast of the United States. But because our instruments are extremely sensitive, it is very likely the instruments will measure some increase.”

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/no-increased-radiation-so-far-in-southern-california.html

Japan dumps water on overheating reactor

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By Chisa Fujioka and Jon Herskovitz Chisa Fujioka And Jon Herskovitz – 2 hrs 17 mins ago

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese military helicopters and fire trucks poured water on an overheating nuclear facility on Thursday and the plant operator said electricity to part of the crippled complex could be restored in a desperate bid to avert catastrophe.

Washington and other foreign capitals expressed growing alarm about radiation leaking from the earthquake-shattered plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. The United States said it was sending aircraft to help Americans leave Japan.

“The situation continues to be very serious,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told reporters at Vienna airport as he left with a group of nuclear experts for Japan.

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110317/ts_nm/us_japan_quake

High radiation found outside Fukushima exclusion zone

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NEWSCORE

Last Updated: 1:00 PM, March 17, 2011

Posted: 8:14 AM, March 17, 2011

The Japanese military pumped jets of water from special fire trucks into a damaged reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant Thursday in a desperate bid to bring down temperatures, as high radiation levels were reported outside the evacuation zone.

High radiation levels have been detected 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) from the plant, beyond the 12.4-mile (20-kilometer) zone designated by authorities, broadcaster NHK reported.

The situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant remains “very serious,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday, adding there had been no major deterioration since Wednesday.

Japan‘s science ministry said exposure to the levels detected for a period of six hours would be the equivalent of the maximum safe level a person could absorb in a year.

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/japanese_trucks_pump_water_into_64E3Sma9ERHrJz6X0Trm1I

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Fukushima Plume to Reach Continental U.S. Friday

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by Thomas Roche on March 16th, 2011

The New York Times just published a story in which it obtained the projected course of the radiation plume from Fukushima I plant.

If current weather holds, the plume is projected to reach the Aleutian Islands on Thursday (tomorrow) and California on Friday, but by the time it reaches the U.S. the effects should be detectable but not harmful.

This sounds 100% reasonable based on everything I know about the crisis, but to be fair, in coming to that conclusion, it’s my opinion the New York Times is meeting the US Government way more than halfway. The last NRC projection levels were from Sunday, before a whole lot of things happened.

The projection itself did not include information about radiation levels. Those come from the NRC, but are maddeningly unspecific and, most importantly, did I mention they are from Sunday?

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To read the complete article, click here -> http://techyum.com/2011/03/fukushima-plume-to-reach-continental-u-s-friday/

Find more information here as well -> http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/science/plume-graphic.html?ref=science

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Screencap from the New York Times

The New York Times just published a story in which it obtained the projected course of the radiation plume from Fukushima I plant.

If current weather holds, the plume is projected to reach the Aleutian Islands on Thursday (tomorrow) and California on Friday, but by the time it reaches the U.S. the effects should be detectable but not harmful.

This sounds 100% reasonable based on everything I know about the crisis, but to be fair, in coming to that conclusion, it’s my opinion the New York Times is meeting the US Government way more than halfway. The last NRC projection levels were from Sunday, before a whole lot of things happened.

The projection itself did not include information about radiation levels. Those come from the NRC, but are maddeningly unspecific and, most importantly, did I mention they are from Sunday?

Japan’s Nuclear Crisis: ‘There Is A Recognition This Is A Suicide Mission’

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by Mark Joyella | 4:55 pm, March 16th, 2011

U.S. officials are increasingly alarmed at the way Japan is handling its ongoing nuclear crisis, with one official telling ABC’s Martha Raddatz “They need to stop pulling out people—and step up with getting them back in the reactor to cool it. There is a recognition this is a suicide mission,” the official said.

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To read the complete article click here -> http://www.mediaite.com/tv/japans-nuclear-crisis-there-is-a-recognition-this-is-a-suicide-mission/

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