Radioactivity Reaches Coast of Canada From Japan, Experts Say “Don’t Worry”

Scientists Report Fukushima Radiation Reaches North America

Since the 2011 tsunami which caused major damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, scientists have been watching to see if radiation has been contaminating ocean waters. Now comes word after the testing of water samples from the British Columbian coast near Vancouver that the first traces of radiation contamination directly traced to the Fukushima plant has reached North America.

At a presentation of the annual Ocean Sciences meetings, researchers also reported that radiation levels in the coastal waters are below levels deemed to be safe. Water has been tested at about two dozen coastal locations, conducted by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Radionuclides from the Fukushima leak are expected to reach the United States as early as April, with the first amounts affecting Hawaiian coastal waters over the next 24 months. Scientists at this point are saying that the detected radioactive plume should pose no threats to sea life or to humans living on or near the coastal waters.

The scientists who have been regularly testing ocean waters around Alaska and British Columbia say that due to the circulatory patterns of the Pacific Ocean, they cannot predict where the radiation plumes will be the most intense.

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 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.

On The Web:
radioactivity reaches coast
http://www.ibtimes.com/fukushima-radiation-reaches-waters-coast-canada-expected-reach-us-april-1557857

radioactivity reaches coast
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fukushima-Radiation-Reaches-the-Waters-off-the-Coast-of-Canada-429147.shtml

Radioactive water from Japan’s Fukushima power plant reaches Canada
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/02/25/Radioactive-water-from-Japans-Fukushima-power-plant-reaches-Canada/8711393354629/