Radioactive dust from Fukushima plant hit N. America soon after meltdown: researchers

[bananas]

Source: Mainichi Daily News

Radioactive materials spewed out from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant reached North America soon after the meltdown and were carried all the way to Europe, according to a simulation by university researchers.

The computer simulation by researchers at Kyushu University and the University of Tokyo, among other institutions, calculated dispersal of radioactive dust from the Fukushima plant beginning at 9 p.m. on March 14, when radiation levels around the plant spiked.

The team found that radioactive dust was likely caught by the jet stream and carried across the Pacific Ocean, its concentration dropping as it spread. According to the computer model, radioactive materials at a concentration just one-one hundred millionth of that found around the Fukushima plant hit the west coast of North America three days later, and reached the skies over much of Europe about a week later.

According to the research team, updrafts in a low-pressure system passing over the disaster-stricken Tohoku region on March 14-15 carried some of the radioactive dust that had collected about 1.5 kilometers above the plant to an altitude of about 5 kilometers. The jet stream then caught the dust and diffused it over the Pacific Ocean and beyond.

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Read more: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110623p2a00m0na006000c.html

[flamingdem]

1. Shame that they did not share the info sooner

for the sake of those who needed to be convinced to take precautions... we were telling the story here to deaf ears. Now pregnant women were needlessly exposed via milk etc.

[tavalon]

5. My dosimeter wasn't lying and we've been on shelf milk and shelf soymilk

For quite a while.

[tavalon]

6. My dosimeter wasn't lying and we've been on shelf milk and shelf soymilk

For quite a while.

[Sirveri]

10. They shared the spikes as they were happening.

They also decided that such protections weren't warranted based on the levels they saw and so did not release a warning about it. Or perhaps you don't remember the rain water spike that was detected in Berkeley, and then heavily reported. The levels have never hit sustained values that would require additional precautions, so they didn't issue them.

[TheWraith]

15. There was continuous reporting for a couple of weeks after the tsunami.

A tiny blip occurred in terms of detectable material, then it went away. Seriously, people need to learn the difference between "detectable radiation" and "dangerous radiation." It's rather like the difference between a few minutes of light rain, and massive torrential flooding.

[newfie11]

2. It is a small world

What the neighbors do affect everyone.

[fascisthunter]

3. the Tragedy of this all was people Knew shit like this COULD or WOULD happen

eventually putting humans in danger. Yet the whacko greed heads and their sychophants had to have their way.

[valerief]

8. The most important thing in the world is for rich people to get richer NOW.

All of life revolves around that fact.

[aquart]

20. I appreciate that the rich don't think fallout will ever touch their pretty heads?

[valerief]

21. It doesn't matter, like an early death doesn't matter to a junkie. They need their $$$ fix NOW. nt

[Electric Monk]

22. They're trying to win the mineshaft war

[jwirr]

4. Okay that makes sense from what we learned from Chernobyl. What

I want to know is what the effect will be on each area it has passed over and I want to know the truth.

[miyazaki]

7. The truth is you'll be just fine. Don't go bananas and join

the 'stick my head between my legs and kiss my ass goodbye' crowd. That induced stress will actually
cause you harm.

[jwirr]

11. Arthritis in my spine - an impossible position.

[closeupready]

24. The truth is it's too soon to know. I have a Swedish friend whose immunity was impacted by

Chernobyl fallout, but her health didn't decline until years afterwards. She's still around, however, you wouldn't want to endure some of the things she's endured, nor would you want to have to alter your diet in consideration if you didn't have to. :(

[AtheistCrusader]

9. This is a simulation based on dust and smoke/pollution.

Not actual measurements of release. The actual release data could be higher or lower.

How this is a shock to anyone in this thread is amazing to me, considering we actually measured radioactive materials in water, foods, etc, AS IT WAS HAPPENING.

That shit doesn't just teleport around.

[godai]

12. Yes, how can this possibly be news to anyone.

The earth is round. It rotates and the atmosphere (and whatever is in it at any given time) moves along in the jetstream. The Fukushima problem is primarily for the Japanese people and the fish in the ocean nearby.

[bananas]

25. Some here said it couldn't reach the jet stream - this may still be news to them

A lot of people believed the happy talk and tuned out after the first week.
Japan, TEPCO, and the nuclear industry worldwide had a PR damage control campaign from the beginning.
The SPEEDI data was suppressed etc.
And the situation is far from over.
There could be even larger releases - and there should be no doubt that it will go into the jet stream.

[MineralMan]

13. A lot of us followed that in real time, when it happened.

The EPA's radiation monitoring system was working as usual, and we got to see the small increase in radioactivity as it occurred. This is not really new information, and there was no shortage of coverage at the time. Since then, levels have fallen back to levels that are the same as before the Fukushima incident. You can see all that stuff at www.epa.gov.

Levels were very low in the US, but were measured and noted. They even did a series of tests on milk here in the Twin Cities, MN. Measurable, but not alarming increases in a couple of isotopes were noted, but levels remained far below limits for reporting.

Some of us have been following this since the earthquake happened, and on a daily basis.

[cstanleytech]

14. Does this mean I can save on my power bill at night?

[trud]

16. Of course

that's why our hospitals have been flooded, don't you know. People falling over in the streets, oh, the humanity.

[JJW]

17. So Obama was telling us...

nuclear energy is safe and we will not get any radiation from Japan, while we were getting radiation from Japan.

Shame on you, Barack Obama.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. That's not what Obama said. Cite to source if you think so, please.

[DeSwiss]

18. K&R

“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. That is the judgment of our Nuclear Regulatory Commission and many other experts.”- http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/17/president-obama-we-will-stand-people-japan">President Barack Obama

[boppers]

23. "harmful"

That's how much radiation was already being emitted.

[AndyTiedye]

26. k/r