Radiation from Fukishima Reactor Reaches Canadian Coast

Vancouver, British Columbia – Scientists have detected radiation levels off the West Coast of Canada which they determined is from the Japanese Fukishima reactor. The authoritative pronouncement was made at the annual gathering of the American Geophysical Union’s Ocean Sciences Meeting. The scientists conducted their meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

As per their findings, the radioactive isotopes cesium-137 & cesium-134 have been detected off the Canadian West Coast. The obvious question is in regards to public health and whether these levels are safe for people. The Bedford Institute of Oceanography located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, says that the trace levels of radiation are well within the limits of what Canada deems safe for drinking water.

Tests conducted off the West Coast of the United States in 8 locations across California, Oregon, and Washington have detected cesium-137, but not cesium-134. The radiation was released into the environment on March 11, 2011 when a reactor at the Fukishima nuclear power plant suffered a meltdown as a result of an earthquake and concomitant tsunami.

Scientists have been conducting radiation tests ever since to spot the spread of the radiation towards Canada. Thus far, they’ve detected the radiation in the top layer of the ocean’s water up to a depth of 325 feet. Specifically, they are awaiting radiation levels from the plume that emerged during the peak of the reactor’s meltdown. That radiation is yet to arrive.

John Smith, a scientist with the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, stresses that, despite the fact that radiation from Fukushima is now present in Canadian waters, the country’s residents have nothing to worry about.

According to Smith, concentrations of two isotopes fall below Canada’s current safety limit for cesium in drinking water. In fact, it appears that they are much lower than what is considered safe.

“These levels are clearly not a human or biological threat in Canada,” John Smith reportedly said.

UPI reports that current models put future levels of Cesium-137 at no greater than 27 Bq/m3, and maximum levels of cesium-134 at 2 Bq/m3 — both amounts below what the World Health Organization, the EPA and Canada’s Department of the Environment consider safe for human consumption.

In the US, the safety level of radiation is 28 Becquerels per cubic meter. Thus far, they’ve detected levels between 1.3 and 1.7 Becquerels.

In a video posted last month, Discovery News reporter Trace Dominguez told viewers there’s no reason to worry about Fukushima radioactivity in the West Coast or anywhere else in the U.S.

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Source:
Radiation from Fukushima reaches Canada’s coastal waters early, but poses no threat
http://za.news.yahoo.com/fukushima-39-radioactive-ocean-water-arrives-west-coast-141659725.html